


Allemande

by Gefionne



Series: Sinfonia [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, American Sign Language, Deaf Ben, First Love, M/M, Pianist Hux, Reyasma (side), Romance, Stormpilot (side), benarmie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-04-29 16:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 71,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14476539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gefionne/pseuds/Gefionne
Summary: Hux has come to the United States to study concert piano under one of the top instructors in the country, leaving his friends and native England behind. In his new school, he encounters Ben Solo, who lost his hearing as a child. For Hux, living without music seems unbearable, but Ben shows him that there’s goodness, too, in silence.





	1. First Movement

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fayolinn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fayolinn/gifts).



> This is for [koujaaku](http://koujaaku.tumblr.com) for her birthday! It's based off her [AU about deaf Ben and pianist Hux](http://koujaaku.tumblr.com/tagged/deaf-ben).
> 
> Hi folks, so we went about researching before starting in on this, and while neither of us are deaf ourselves, have tried to portray a deaf character with respect. If you're in any way a part of the deaf community and feel that you have constructive criticism, please share it will us. We're willing to change anything we've not represented well, though in saying this acknowledging that every person's experience is different. Representation matters, and we intend to do it with respect.

_allemande  
_ the first movement in a classical suite of baroque dances

* * *

The hammers struck the piano’s strings smartly, remarkably resonant for a baby grand. This one Hux was just breaking in, freshly purchased from a shop in the city at the recommendation of his new tutor, Rae Sloane, whose studio he had come across the Atlantic to join. She would be his ticket to Juilliard, his father had assured him, so they had packed up their modest row house in Surrey and come to Endor Cross, Connecticut, a wealthy if sleepy town on the train line to New York.

Maratelle had begged Brendol to let them live outside the chaos of the city proper, and Endor Cross had the most highly ranked public school district in the state. Public school, Hux discovered, meant something very different in America than it did in England. There was no tuition, no boarding, and no careful selection of students; those who couldn’t afford _private_ school attended Endor Cross High.

Hux had begun there just a week ago, Maratelle having dropped him off with instructions to report to the main office to pick up his class schedule. Though he was no longer required to wear a uniform, he kept the leather bag embossed with the coat of arms of Arkanis, his previous school, over his shoulder. He had been greeted happily enough by the secretary in the office, who presented him with a timetable and a map of the building.

“Mr. Peavey’s homeroom is right down the hall, dear,” she had said. “Tell him your name. Welcome to Endor Cross!”

His homeroom teacher was a pinch-faced man who held himself with military precision and curtly told Hux to find a seat. He had chosen a place near the back, between a girl with white-blond hair—who had been filing her sharp, silver-painted nails—and a dark-skinned boy free with his smiles. Hux had introduced himself and gotten their names—Phasma and Finn—but they weren’t in his first period class, so he hadn’t gotten a chance to say much more than that. Phasma was in Hux’s sixth-period chemistry lab, and she had shot him a pointed look when the teacher had indicated they would need partners for the term for their experiments. Nothing had come of it since, however. Hux and Finn exchanged hellos every morning now, but Hux couldn’t say they were on their way to being friends.

He had been told by his counselor that a good way to meet people was to join an after-school club or sports team, but Hux was neither keen on sport nor interested in drama or whatever Model UN was. And what free time he had was spent at the piano. He didn’t mind altogether that much; his focus was on music.

“Armitage,” Maratelle called from the kitchen. “The bus is coming.”

He closed the piano and shouldered his bag, heading out to catch the garish yellow school bus he had thought only existed in films. The driver mumbled a “Good morning” as he stepped inside. As usual, most of the students had their phones out or were curled up leaning on their backpacks snatching a few more minutes of sleep before the day started. A pair of girls in cheerleading uniforms—another thing Hux thought was a Hollywood invention—were whispering and giggling in the bouncy back of the bus. Hux ducked into an empty seat and watched suburbia go by, saying nothing to anyone and not bothering to look at his phone; he had no one to message.

Students were milling around the lawn in front of the school building when the bus arrived. Hux made his way uninterrupted across it, trudging up the stairs and inside. He stopped at his locker to drop off the books he had taken home last night and to pick up his folders for his morning classes. Mr. Peavey grunted at him from behind his desk at the front of the room as he entered, but Hux didn’t bother to acknowledge him. He took his usual seat and opened his school-issued diary, which everyone in America called a “planner,” scanning over the assignments he would have to do this week.

“What’re you looking at in there that you don’t already know?”

Phasma was standing next to him, hands on her hips as she looked down at him from her considerable height. She came from England, too, but she had nearly lost her accent in the years she had been in Endor Cross.

Hux closed the planner. “Nothing, really. Good morning.”

She tapped her vicious chrome nails at the edge of his desk. “It’s Monday. It’s never ‘good.’ Do anything fun over the weekend?”

“Nothing in particular,” Hux said. He had had his regular lesson with Rae on Saturday afternoon in the city, had done his homework, and had played his Sunday evening concert for Maratelle and his father. In Surrey, they would have their friends over to listen to him, from the time he was five until now, at sixteen. They knew no one well enough here for that, so he played only for them.

“Same story here,” said Phasma. “There’s nothing much to do around here, if you haven’t already figured it out. Unless you want to go to the football games and watch ritual physical abuse.”

American football was as savage as rugger, and Hux would not be wasting his time with that, even if some insisted it was something all high school students should experience at least once.

“I’d rather not,” Hux said. Phasma chuckled.

Behind her, a few other students were coming through the door, some yawning and others chatting amongst themselves. One boy, though, never spoke and never removed the set of expensive wireless headphones that covered his ears. His name was Ben, Hux had discovered, but when he had asked a classmate about him, the girl had only said, “Oh, him? Don’t bother.” Hux had not so far, and yet his eyes kept finding him during homeroom and in the one class they had together: English 11.

While any student caught with earbuds in would have them confiscated on sight, none of the teachers once insisted Ben remove his headphones. They didn’t seem to distract him; he paid close attention during the lectures, always focused on the teacher and taking occasional notes in his spiral notebook. Hux found himself strangely preoccupied with wanting to know what he was listening to. Hux’s taste in music wasn’t all classic piano sonatas; he enjoyed popular songs, too, and was always interested in finding a new band. Perhaps, he thought, Ben might have a suggestion or two.

Phasma caught Hux’s attention wandering from her to Ben as he crossed the classroom to take his seat at the back corner. “It’s not polite to stare,” she said. Hux quickly looked away, and she cocked a brow at him. “What’s so interesting about the Solo kid?”

 _Ben Solo_.

“He’s unusual,” Hux replied quietly.

Phasma barked a laugh. “You can say that again. But he’s not the unhinged type of unusual. He just does him. Best to just leave him to that.”

“Right,” Hux muttered as the bell rang and the morning announcements came over the PA system.

 

****

 

Lunch period was generally one of the more awkward times during the school day when one was new. Hux might have sat with Phasma if he had ever been able to find her, but she disappeared to somewhere undisclosed for the allotted forty minutes they had to bolt down their cafeteria food and cartons of low-fat milk. The weather was still nice enough that most of the students ate on the quadrangle, and Hux was on his way to join Dopheld Mitaka and his gaggle of freshmen, with whom he had taken to sitting for lack of other options.

Conversation among them was rapid and vacillated between computer club jargon and rehashing true crime podcasts, neither of which Hux had any interest in. He was resigned to it again today, but as he went along the sidewalk, he caught sight of Ben Solo seated at a small table beneath one of the oak trees that occasionally dropped acorns onto unsuspecting heads. Hux was aware of how he had been warned, and yet he found himself heading toward the tree, the table, and Ben.

Ben wore a blue and gray letterman jacket over his t-shirt, which Hux had learned indicated he was on a varsity sports team; Hux didn’t know which. His headphones were firmly in place and he had a paperback book in his hand. He didn’t look up when Hux set his lunch tray down on the table across from him and sank onto the bench.

“Ah, hello,” Hux said. Ben didn’t acknowledge him, only turning to the next page of his book. Hux continued, louder, “Hello, I’m Hux.” Still nothing. Trying a different tack, Hux reached across the table, putting his open hand into Ben’s field of vision. He nearly yanked it back when Ben’s head shot up, eyes wide and almost fearful.

“Sorry,” Hux was quick to say. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Ben’s surprise transitioned quickly into anger. “Go away,” he said. The words were slurred, but forceful, even too loud for how close they were sitting.

“I beg your pardon—” Hux started, but Ben cut him off again.

“Didn’t everyone tell you to leave me alone?” His enunciation was poor, the syllables too rounded and, again, at a high volume. “I don’t want to talk to you. _Leave_.”

Hux was so taken aback by the vitriol that he didn’t move. It only seemed to make Ben even angrier. He shot to his feet—he was just a couple of inches taller than Hux—and glared.

“Whoever put you up to this can go to hell,” he snarled. Grabbing his lunch tray, he stalked off, leaving Hux shell-shocked at the table.

“Well,” Hux managed to say to himself, “that couldn’t have gone worse.” Sighing, he opened his milk, drank one sip, and then gave up. He tossed the rest of his lunch into the trash and went to spend the rest of the period in the library.

Ms. Allen was the librarian, and she smiled at him as he went inside. “Is there something I can help you find?”

“No, thank you,” Hux said. Passing the desk, he went to one of the outdated computers and logged in with his student ID number and password. Pulling up Google, he typed in: _kinds of speech disorders_.

Of course, there were hundreds of results, ranging from stuttering to certain side effects of other illnesses. Ben’s speech could be affected by any of these things; looking it up like this was useless. Hux returned to the search box and this time entered: _Ben Solo Endor Cross High School._

These results were far more limited, the first link an article in the town newspaper about Endor Cross sophomore B. Solo representing the school at a state-wide track competition. He was a sprinter, and apparently a good one. The picture attached to the article was clearly from the previous year; Ben had grown more into his nose and shoulders since, and his dark hair was longer now. His headphones were absent, though, as he posed in his track uniform with a trophy in hand. Tactfully, there was nothing about him overcoming any kind of disability to win. Hux was embarrassed to even think that _he_ would imagine that someone would have put that in the article. What did it have to do with Ben’s track success? Nothing at all.

He continued to scroll down the page, searching for anything that might tell him more. Near the bottom, he spotted an ancient hand-coded HTML website that featured profiles of several young people at the Skywalker School for the Deaf. There, dead center, was a picture of a boy with Ben’s eyes and stern expression.

No wonder Ben hadn’t heard Hux when he had come to sit at the table, or when he had introduced himself. The headphones weren’t for music, but to keep people away. Hux did the same thing when he was on the train to the city; he had no interest in making smalltalk with strangers.

“Shit,” Hux whispered. He had accosted Ben, who clearly wasn’t comfortable with that kind of thing. Shoving his hand into Ben’s face was probably the worst he could have done. But how was he to have known, really? It didn’t make him feel any better about it, though. Ashamed of himself for now having stalked him online, too, Hux closed the window and logged out of the computer.

It was nearly the end of lunch period, but he lingered, not wanting to risk running into Ben in the halls. He held back a groan. They had English together eighth period; there was no avoiding him there. Maybe they could just pretend nothing had happened and go back to ignoring each other.

Hux was kidding himself with that; he had to apologize. Just walking up and saying it was out of the question, and he wasn’t going to write him a note to put on his desk in the morning.

Making his way back up to the librarian’s desk, Hux asked her, “Do we have any books on American Sign Language for beginners?”

“Certainly. I’ll show you.”

 

****

 

The signs weren’t overly complicated, but Hux spent hours that night practicing them after dinner and his two hours at the piano. He did them again now as he stood in front of the mirror in the boys’ bathroom at the beginning of lunch period. It wouldn’t take long: just three signs and then he could leave Ben in peace. He shaped his fist into the sign for the letter A and circled it clockwise over his chest. **I’m sorry.** He clenched the fist and, with a last worried look at his reflection, he left to pick up his lunch tray.

Ben was in the same spot as the day before, headphones on, jacket over his shoulders, book in his hand. Hux went carefully toward him. In part he wished Ben would look up, but he was afraid that if he saw Hux before he’d sat down, he’d just storm away and Hux would lose his chance. Unwilling to back out now, Hux took up his place at the table.

Ben’s glare was frigid. “I told you to leave me alone,” he said.

Hux didn’t open his mouth; he went straight into the signs he prayed he had gotten right: **I’m sorry about yesterday.** That was it; that was all he’d learned.

Ben looked like he had been slapped, cheeks turning faintly pink and lips parted. Hux braced for another telling-off. Maybe because Ben could speak, he didn’t sign? Oh God, Hux had done the wrong thing yet again. He was about to grab his tray and flee, but then Ben’s fingers were flying in a flurry of signs, his expression changing with each one.

Hux raised his hands in an attempt to stop him. “I don’t understand,” he said, unable to do anything else. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

Ben lowered his hands, but he didn’t look upset—instead more curious. “How much sign language do you know?” he asked aloud.

“Only that,” Hux replied. From his bag he pulled the two books he had checked out from the library. “I just started last night.”

Ben picked one up and flipped it open. “I can teach you the cuss words. They won’t.”

Hux laughed weakly, sick with relief. He didn’t hold out his hand again, but he laid it on his chest and said, “I’m Hux.”

Ben’s brows drew together in a quizzical expression. Hux had read that sometimes it was hard working out names when reading lips, so he repeated himself, slower. Ben shook his head and picked up his phone. The Darth Vader case was battered from use, Hux saw, as Ben tapped the screen before holding it out to Hux. The “Create New Contact” option was pulled up.

“So I can talk to you,” Ben said. He touched his lips. “This is hard.”

Hux took the phone and entered his full name and his phone number before giving it back. Ben’s thumbs flew over the keyboard faster than almost anyone Hux had ever seen. A second later, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

The text from an unknown number read: _Reading lips can be creepy. I have to stare at you. And I type faster than I talk._

Hux typed “Ben Solo” into the appropriate fields in his contacts before returning to the messages. _Thank you for accepting my apology._

Ben’s reply came immediately: _Who said I did?_

Hux, crestfallen, peered across the table at him. Ben blinked once, as if contemplating, but turned back to his phone.

_Don’t look so upset. I’m just kidding. Do you take everything so seriously?_

Hux generally did, actually. _It’s hard to know your tone through text_ , he replied. _You could have been perfectly serious about that and I never would have known._

Ben reached across to him and tapped the top of his phone. He pointed at his face with two fingers even as he typed blindly. Hux’s phone vibrated.

 _You have to look at me sometimes_ , Ben wrote. _Or I can use emoji. But I hate emoji._

Hux lifted a brow. _Who hates emoji?_

_So much of how I communicate with sign language has to do with expressions, but my teachers taught me that when you write, you have to express yourself without them. Makes you a better writer._

Of course Hux hadn’t thought of any of that. He understood almost nothing about how Ben communicated, except for what he had read in the first chapters of the ASL books. _Do you like to write?_ Hux asked.

Ben averted his eyes for a few seconds before returning to his phone. _Sometimes. I’d rather write than talk._

_Talk out loud or sign?_

Ben shrugged. _Both, sometimes._

Hux tried to read his tone in his face, but couldn’t get a real gauge of it. He decided to let the matter drop, if it made Ben uncomfortable. He didn’t want to fall back on smalltalk, but somehow he found himself typing: _Do you always sit outside at lunch? It’s nicer here than in England._

Ben’s surprise was apparent. _You’re from England?_

Hux nearly slapped his brow, annoyed at his own assumptions. Everyone in school could pick out his accent, except for Ben. _Yes. I just moved here with my father and stepmother._

 _Cool_ was Ben’s reply. _I’ve never been outside of the States. Do you like it here?_

_I’m getting used to it._

Ben texted rapidly again. _You don’t have many friends yet, otherwise you wouldn’t be here with me. I know they told you not to bother with me._ His mouth was pinched, gaze downcast.

Hux wrote: _I was told that, yes. But they didn’t talk to me much, either._

 _So you decided you’d come see the only other kid in the school who has no friends?_ Ben asked.

Hux made sure to look up at him to see if he meant it harshly, but Ben’s expression was neutral. Hux rubbed his thumb along the edge of his phone, at a bit of a loss for how to explain his curiosity about Ben without offending him. It didn’t help that Ben was looking so hard at him, waiting.

 _I just wanted to say hello_ , he said. Hesitantly, he added, _Maybe find out what you were listening to._

For the first time since Hux had started at school, Ben pulled the headphones down around his neck. _Just the soothing sounds of silence_ , he wrote. _I just keep them on so people won’t talk to me._

 _I guessed that,_ Hux said. _Do you want me to go?_

Ben’s face was impassive. _Do you want to?_

Hux shook his head.

Ben went back to his phone. _Did you learn those signs just because of me?_

 _Yes,_ Hux wrote. _I felt like a right arse for behaving like I did yesterday. I didn’t mean to upset you._

 _“Right arse.” You *are* British._ _I guess I owe you an apology, too. I yelled at you._

 _Apology accepted_ , Hux said. _Can we consider this starting over?_

Ben nodded, the barest hint of a smile on his lips. _You should probably eat,_ _unless you want to starve through the rest of the day._ He picked up his apple; it didn’t even fill the palm of his hand. _Not like this is very much. I always have to eat a couple of granola bars before practice._

 _You’re on the track team, right?_ Hux asked. He tried not to give his Google stalking away.

_Yep._

_Do you enjoy that?_

_Would I do it if I didn’t?_

Hux huffed. _I suppose not. I’m not a very good athlete._

 _What are you into, then?_ said Ben.

Hux replied, _I play the piano._

Ben scratched at the shell of his ear, typing with his other hand. _That it?_

 _Mostly_ , Hux was a little abashed to admit. _I’m studying to go to conservatory when I graduate._

 _Impressive,_ said Ben. _Are you some kind of prodigy?_

Hux pursed his lips distastefully. He didn’t like that term, but he had been a very gifted child. _Something like that._

Ben waved his apple, backing off. _Didn’t mean to touch a nerve._

 _It’s fine,_ Hux said, trying to convey his sincerity in his face, too.

 _So, what brought you to Endor Cross of all places?_ Ben asked. _There’s really nothing happening here._

 _There’s a world-renowned concert pianist in New York I’m studying with,_ Hux replied. _Rae Sloane. I saw her perform in Vienna when I was ten. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen._

He still remembered the awe at her technical skill and expressiveness in the music. He had admired others before, but his understanding of playing the piano had been completely altered by watching her. That she had accepted him as a student this past year had been the greatest honor in his life so far.

 _It’s intense to watch people sway and close their eyes and stuff when they get really into playing music_ , Ben said. _It’s like a trance. Do you do that?_

 _Sometimes_ , said Hux. _When you really get lost in the music, it moves your whole body._

Ben sobered and Hux winced. Surely this wasn’t a subject Ben wanted to contend with—not when he couldn’t hear. Or maybe Hux was being overly sensitive. Still, he changed the topic.

 _It’s the only exercise I get_ , Hux typed quickly. _Unless you count gym class. How long have you been running track?_

Ben took the bait and moved on: _Only since freshman year. They didn't have sports at my old school._

_I see. Do you have any competitions coming up?_

_An away meet this weekend at Coruscant._

_Think you’re going to win?_

Ben nodded, just one corner of his mouth betraying the cockiness there. _I usually do._

 _Congratulations on your confidence,_ Hux said.

 _Are you implying I’m full of myself?_ Ben said, head tilted with a kind of playful interest. When he wasn’t focused on his book or looking at the teacher or his feet, he was incredibly expressive.

 _Win at your meet and then come see me again_ , Hux wrote.

Ben leaned his elbows on the table, leveling Hux with a self-assured stare. He fired off a message: _I like a challenge._

Rolling his eyes, Hux picked up his sure-to-be bland turkey sandwich and took a bite. For a few minutes they ate in silence. It was odd in its way, since Hux was so accustomed to polite dinner conversation, but Ben seemed totally unaffected, chewing placidly as he glanced around the quad.

Hux finished the sandwich handily and drained his milk. He was poised to start another text when the bell rang, announcing the end of lunch. He knew Ben couldn’t hear it, but as soon as the others began to get up, Ben took his cue and went to stand. He pulled his headphones back up over his ears.

“Wait,” Hux said aloud. “I mean—” He fumbled with his phone, texting as fast as he could before Ben left.

_What do you have next period? I have chemistry._

Ben, his lunch tray still in his left hand, sent a text back with his right: _U.S. History. I have chem second period._

Hux frantically wrote: _What are you doing after school?_

Plucking at his letterman jacket, Ben replied, _Track practice. Why do you want to know?_

 _Because,_ Hux typed, _I wanted to know if I could text you later._

He was used to going home after class, throwing his bag down in the corner of his room, and falling back onto his bed to stare at the ceiling for fifteen minutes before he started his homework. He had become particularly diligent about that since coming to America.

Slowly, Ben set his tray back down and took his phone with both hands again. _If you’re just doing this to be nice, don’t. I don’t need your charity or your pity._

Hux shook his head again, typing: _That’s not it at all._ Christ, this was hard to put into words. _I’d just like to get to know you better?_ He added the question mark to allow Ben a way out.

Ben seemed to study him for a moment, taking his measure. When he turned back to his phone, the reply came quickly: _Practice ends at 5 and then I have dinner at 6. I can check my phone after that._

Hux flashed him a quick smile. “Okay,” he said before he could stop himself.

Fortunately, Ben read him and spoke in return: “Okay.”

   

****

 

Rae had picked the piece Hux would be playing for his Christmas recital that weekend: Bach’s French Suite No. 5 in G Major. It was a collection of dances in seven movements, and Hux was sitting at the piano in his living room working through the peculiarities of the allemande. His father was sitting in his armchair by the fireplace—gas, and only for ambiance—and Maratelle had gone off to the local gym for the new pilates class she had found. The grandfather clock on the far wall was ticking steadily along, bringing Hux closer to seven-thirty, when he deemed it time enough for Ben to have had dinner and be able to check his phone. His own was sitting face-down on the padded piano bench next to him.

That afternoon after lunch, Hux had gone to chemistry lab, where Phasma had chosen to be his partner after all. They were two steps into the experiment when she had said, “Rumor has it you had lunch with Ben Solo today. That true?”

Hux had paused in pouring the base into the acidic solution over the Bunsen burner. “Yes.”

Phasma, boggled, said, “And he actually let you?”

“Yes.”

“What did you say to him?”

Hux stirred the mixture, heating it. “I introduced myself.”

Phasma had shaken her head. “‘I introduced myself,’ he says. Ben doesn’t talk to anyone.”

Hux had shrugged and said nothing else.

In English during eighth period, he had been careful not to look too often at Ben, or expect Ben to acknowledge him. One conversation did not a friendship make. Instead, Hux had focused on Mr. Tarkin’s discussion of _Romeo and Juliet_ and taken notes quietly. Just as he had been packing up, though, he had caught Ben’s gaze, and Ben had nodded to him before he disappeared into the hall.

On the bus ride home, Hux had opened up his ASL books again and started to study. He focused on the little things he might use in the next few days, like “Hello” and “How are you?” He could already imagine Ben’s face when he sat down and signed that to him. The transformation had been immediate; he had been genuinely excited that Hux might be able to sign. Hux had hated to then disappoint him, but he hadn’t seemed put-off by texting. And at least he hadn’t sent Hux packing with his tail between his legs.

Hux’s fingers stilled on the keys as he hit a thorny measure, and he paused to make a mark in pencil on the sheet music. Eventually, he would play the suite from memory, but for now he was permitted the music. He glanced at the clock. 7:28. Good enough. Setting the pencil down, he picked up his phone and opened his messages with Ben.

 _Hey,_ he typed. _How was track practice? Warming up to win?_ He went to set the phone back down, but the ellipsis bubble appeared, and he grinned.

 _Good_ , Ben replied. _Coach Cardinal says I’ll go All-State this year again._

 _That’s exciting,_ said Hux.

 _Yeah. Do you have, like, piano competitions?_ Ben asked.

 _They’re called recitals,_ Hux replied, _and they’re not really competitive. It’s just a place to exhibit your skill. If I get a good critique from Ms. Sloane, that’s like winning._

He was prepared to work his ass off to get just that at this first recital in December.

 _Cool,_ Ben said. _Do you get nervous before it?_

 _No,_ said Hux. _Well, maybe a little, but I’ve been playing for an audience for a very long time. It’s routine at this point._

The bubble hovered there for a little longer than normal, and the length of the response Hux got proved why: _I used to get so nervous before a test that I’d throw up. We used to have these intense exams at my old school where you had to stand in front of three of the teachers and deliver a whole “speech.” It was all signed, of course. And then they asked you all these questions to make sure you knew your vocabulary. There are *a lot* of signs to learn when you’re five years old._

 _They made you take a test like that at *five*?_ Hux asked.

Ben replied, _Yep. They don’t screw around there. And there’s also a whole series of tests for lip reading and speaking. It’s a college prep school kind of, so they want everyone to be really good at making it in a hearing world. Most deaf people don’t even finish high school, let alone college._

With massive lecture halls where the professor was too far away to see and with the speed and course-load, college was challenging enough for someone who could hear. Hux couldn’t even imagine how difficult it would be for a deaf person.

 _Do you want to go to college?_ he texted to Ben.

_I don’t know yet. My parents want me to go, but I don’t want to flunk out. I’d rather just not go than fail at it._

That Hux could understand. _What would you like to study?_

_English. I like to read a lot._

_And_ , Hux said, _write “sometimes.”_

Ben said, _Don’t go spreading that around._

Hux replied in earnest, _Who would I tell? I don’t have any friends._

_Touché. Phasma talks to you in homeroom, though. You don’t want to get to know her?_

_In all honesty, she’s a little terrifying. But she was very surprised to hear we had lunch together today._

Hux liked to imagine he could see Ben’s disdainful expression. _Word travels fast._

 _Worried about your reputation?_ Hux asked. _Taking in the new kid is a risk._

Ben replied, _Like *I’m* the one putting my reputation on the line. Why’d you want to talk to me anyway?_

Hux weighed how much truth to reveal. He settled on: _Why not?_

 _I mean, fair, I guess._ A pause, and then: _I remember when you first came into homeroom. You looked really pissed off instead of lost, like some of the new kids. Did you hate coming here or something?_

 _I’m afraid that’s just my face_ , Hux said, hoping the wryness came through.

_You are kinda serious. But I can’t throw stones. My dad says I should smile more._

Hux said, _My father says a lot of things, too, but that doesn’t mean I always have to listen to him._

It wasn’t to say that Brendol was an overbearing man, but he had pushed Hux to succeed since he had first taken up the piano. And he subscribed to the idea that work defined a person. Hux’s work was music. In Brendol’s eyes, that came at the cost of just about everything else in his life. Hux put it first, but he didn’t intend to barely scrape by at school or sacrifice having a few friends, or maybe even a boyfriend someday.

 _Don’t get me wrong,_ Ben wrote, _he’s a good guy, but I’m not very much like him._

 _You don’t have to be,_ said Hux.

 _That’s true._ _Hey, I have to do my homework now._

Hux, only a little disappointed, typed, _Okay. Will I see you at lunch tomorrow?_

_Sure. Bye._

Hux flopped back onto his pillow, dropping his phone at his side. This was the first real conversation he’d had with anyone outside of his family since had they moved to Connecticut and it felt good to just talk to someone he didn’t know very well. He got the impression that Ben was a little uneasy still, but Hux planned to tread carefully with him. He had a shot at his first friend here, and he wasn’t going to blow it.

 

****

 

“Hey, Hux!” called Dopheld from the other side of the lunch line. “You want to come sit with us today?” A round-faced young man with close-cropped dark hair, he was wearing a t-shirt that read: _Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and on again?_ His computer club cronies were hovering behind him.

Instead of yelling across to him, Hux went over to make his excuses. “I actually have someone who’s expecting me,” he said. “But thank you.”

Dopheld didn’t seem put-out. “Okay. See you later!” he said as he led the group off toward the doors.

Hux followed at a more sedate pace, their paths diverging around the middle of the quad. Despite what he had said, Ben was not sitting in his usual place and Hux’s bright morning hope dimmed somewhat. Still, he went to the little table under the oak and sat down. He picked up his apple and bit into it idly, keeping watch of the main doors to see if Ben would appear.

Several minutes passed and there was no sign of him. Hux frowned down at his apple. It wasn’t so far beyond the realm of possibility that Ben had decided he didn’t want to deal with him after all and just gone elsewhere to avoid him. That message was pretty clear, and Hux would just have to accept it. He pulled out his phone just in case he had texted, but there was nothing.

Uninterested in the unremarkable lunch, but unwilling to go hungry, he picked up his sandwich. He had just looked up to take a bite when he saw Ben coming in quick, long strides toward him. He was wearing a navy blue sweater, faded jeans with a hole in one knee, and his usual headphones. He dropped his tray on the table with a clatter and sank onto the bench across from Hux.

Hux decided to try his luck and signed: **Hello. How are you?**

Ben, brightening, signed a few things back. Hux recognized **Sorry** , but nothing else. At Hux’s lost look, he pulled out his phone. _Sorry I’m late. Coach Cardinal wanted to talk to me about running the 800-meter. He decided he needed to wax poetic._

 _It’s okay,_ Hux said. He considered leaving it there, but decided to be forthright. _I thought you weren’t coming._

Ben signed again: **I’m sorry**.

Hux nodded and went to type again. _When are you running the 800-meter? I thought you were a sprinter._

 _Cardinal says the end of the season so I can build up my stamina,_ said Ben. _I’ll sprint at the new few meets._ He picked up his sandwich and took a large bite. _I’m starving._

 _Do they ever serve anything other than sandwiches?_ Hux asked. _It’s getting old fast._

_Sometimes there’s pizza, but it’s like cardboard. The sandwiches are better. Don’t miss french fries day, though. They’re decent._

Hux picked at his carrot sticks, the orange flesh just a little dry from sitting out for a while. _I rather miss the food in the dining hall at my old school. It was a boarding school, so they had to have decent food for the teachers._

Ben typed, _How was boarding school?_

 _Perfectly fine,_ Hux replied. _*This* is out of the ordinary for me. Means I have to see my parents every day instead of just on holidays._

 _It’s just you and them here?_ Ben asked. _No other family?_

Hux shook his head. _They’re all in England. Is your family here?_

 _Everybody,_ said Ben. _It’s not a really big family, but all the students at my old school are pretty close, so it’s like extended family. We still see each other all the time, even after we graduate._

Oftentimes graduating classes from Arkanis would see each other annually at reunions, but Hux didn’t see himself doing that in the future. He had enjoyed his time there immensely, having made friends and finding out a few rather critical things about himself. In close quarters with so many other boys, it hadn’t taken him long to discern his preferences, and act on some of them. He’d kissed his share of schoolmates and fumbled around in dark dormitories with them, too. It was part of the experience, most alumni agreed, though most of them outgrew it when there were more girls to be had. Hux had not.

He understood that things were very different in America, and he had every intention of keeping his sexuality to himself until he finished high school and moved to New York. That was assuming he got into Juilliard. In any case, he wasn’t out to catch a boyfriend amongst his fellows at Endor Cross High.

 _That must be nice,_ he texted to Ben.

_It’s all right. What’d you think of the mini essay we had to write for English?_

Hux had spent more time on it last night than he had wanted to, cutting into his rehearsal time and annoying his father, neither of which were things he wanted.

 _It was a little hard,_ he admitted. _I don’t think I did very well._

Ben’s gaze went to Hux’s bag and then back to his face. _Want me to look at it for you?_

 _As long as you don’t mock me mercilessly for it if it’s bad,_ Hux said.

Ben laid his right forefinger over his lips and then touched the flat of the hand to his left fist. He said aloud, “I promise.”

Hux tried the sign out himself. He would add it to his list tonight. He stooped to pick up his bag and the typewritten 500-word mini essay he had printed out, handing it to Ben. He read quickly, that was for sure. It wasn’t more than three minutes before he was rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

 _That bad?_ Hux texted, the message lighting up Ben’s phone next to him.

Ben laid the paper down and pulled out a pencil. He made some notes in neat block handwriting and pushed it back over to Hux. _You can retype it in study hall_ , he wrote. _It’s not *that* bad._

Still chagrined, Hux tucked it away, murmuring, “Thank you.”

“Like this,” Ben said as he put the tips of his right fingers against his mouth and moved his flat hand forward, kind of like blowing a kiss. Hux mimicked him, and Ben nodded. He signed again, flat right hand with fingers touching his chin and then bringing his right wrist over his left and striking twice, his hands closed. He explained, “Good job.”

Hux couldn’t keep himself from smiling at the praise. He signed back **Thank you** and was rewarded with a smile, teeth and all. It lit up Ben’s face, crinkling the corners of his brown eyes. Hux caught himself before he admired him too openly.

He picked up his phone again. _Did you promise something about teaching me the curse words?_

There was Ben’s smile again, this time devious.

Hux got a thorough lesson in filth over the next half hour. He wasn’t sure he’d remember all of the signs, but it was clear that Ben would be more than willing to remind him if he needed it.

 _I use them in the hall all the time_ , Ben texted as they walked together to return their lunch trays to the dishwashing station. _Nobody knows what they mean. It’s stupid but remarkably satisfying._

 _I would imagine so,_ said Hux. _I’ll try to use the choicest ones on the real assholes._ He glanced at Ben to gauge his reaction, but he was focused on his phone.

He wrote, _People are going to talk about you if you keep eating lunch with me._

Hux balked, not having expected that. _What would they say?_ he asked.

Ben frowned at him as he replied, _I don’t have friends and hanging out with me won’t make you any, either._ _Don’t you want to fit in here?_

Hux turned it around on him: _So you don’t want to be friends with me?_

Ben chewed his cheek, but typed, _Being friends with me takes more effort than hearing people._

 _Texting isn’t hard,_ Hux insisted.

Ben shot him a glare. _If you want to commit social suicide, I guess I won’t stop you._

 _It’s just lunch period,_ Hux said. _There seriously can’t be that much the matter with that._

Ben shrugged.

With a sigh, Hux wrote, _If you want me to leave you alone, I will._

 _No,_ Ben replied. _I don’t._ He looked up at Hux, sincere. _I haven’t said this much to someone between the hours of 7:30 and 5:00 in years._

Hux read the teasing between the words and Ben’s face, and relaxed. _Are we going to get in trouble for being on our phones?_

 _They’d take them away if we were in class, but not here._ He raised his brows suggestively. _Teacher’s pet?_

 _Hardly,_ Hux typed, dismissive. _As long as I pass, my father’s happy. He’d rather I spent time on the piano than in the library._

_Do you like that?_

_I love it. Music is all I’ve ever wanted to do._

They were nearing the stairway to their separate classrooms, but when Ben tucked himself into a corner, Hux followed him. They stood just a foot apart, phones between them.

 _I remember a little music,_ Ben wrote. _There was a radio in the school where my parents taught in Africa that they’d leave on while I was going to sleep at night._

Hux didn’t want to press, but Ben had invited the question: _When did you lose your hearing?_

_Around three. I had ear infections all the time. When they don’t get treated right, you can’t hear anymore._

Hux would not say he was sorry; Ben didn’t want pity.

 _You lived in Africa?_ Hux asked.

Ben’s face hid nothing, and it was plain he had been expecting the usual platitudes about his loss. When Hux didn’t bring it up, though, tension visibly left his shoulders. He typed: _Yeah, I was born there. My parents were in the Peace Corps._

 _That’s amazing!_ Hux wrote, emphasizing the words with his face. _Do you remember it well?_

Ben shook his head. _Not really. We left before I turned four._

_You moved here?_

_Yep. It was where the school for the deaf was. My uncle’s a teacher there._ _I’ve lived here since._

They caught each other’s eyes above their phones and Hux offered a smile, which Ben returned.

 _We should get to class,_ Ben typed.

Hux tucked his phone away and signed: **Goodbye.**

Ben shook his head—once to each side—and signed quickly: two fingers by his eye, flipped in a certain way Hux couldn’t quite discern, and then the letter L. He said, “See you later.” Then he bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Hux leaned back against the wall, pleasantly tingling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This](http://koujaaku.tumblr.com/post/172926222316/ben-is-deaf-the-headphones-arent-to-block-out) is the comic that started this whole ball rolling and inspired the story.
> 
> Also check out [the cover art for the story](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/173416143670/koujaaku-hux-has-come-to-the-united-states-to) and [the announcement post](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/173325297435/koujaaku-the-secrets-been-out-for-a-few-days) by the wonderful koujaaku!
> 
> Here's [Ben teaching Hux cuss words](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/174110952485/koujaaku-i-can-teach-you-the-cuss-words-they) just like he promised he would.


	2. Second Movement

Rae Sloane’s downtown studio had floor-to-ceiling windows that afforded a stunning view of the busy street sixteen floors down. A shining black grand piano, its lid propped up to reveal the strings and hammers inside, stood next to them. In the reflection, Hux saw himself at the bench, his fingers over the keys. He was playing through the allemande of French Suite No. 5 with sweeping enthusiasm, idly thinking back to what Ben had said about watching musicians move as they played. He wasn’t particularly wont to do that, but he found he was putting a little more into the piece than he might normally have. As he finished, he lifted his hands, letting the notes drift away as he held the sustain pedal.

“You rushed through it,” Rae Sloane said from her chair to Hux’s right. Her cream-colored blouse highlighted her smooth dark skin, and her elegant hands were resting one atop the other over her crossed knees. She had a severe look about her, her hair pulled back into a prim bun at the back of her head, but she spoke in a soothing alto.

Chastised, Hux said, “I suppose I got excited. I like this first movement.”

Rae rose and crossed to him, looking over his shoulder at the sheet music that he hadn’t once looked at as he played. She drew a steel mechanical pencil from the breast pocket of her blazer and circled the tempo.

“It’s meant to be a joyful dance,” she said, “but you weren’t completely focused on it. Your head is somewhere else.” She cocked a sculpted brow. “What’s on your mind?”

Damn, he’d hoped it didn’t show. “I’ve made a new friend at school,” Hux replied carefully. “I was remembering something he said.”

Rae slid the pencil away, clearly intrigued. “You have a singular focus normally. This must be someone special.”

Hux rubbed his thumbs along the sides of his hands uneasily. Putting it like that implied the kinds of things he didn’t want to consider when it came to Ben, but he would be lying to himself if he hadn’t spent last night thinking about him before he went to sleep. They had had lunch together every day this week, and texted after school when they were both done with their homework and obligations.

On Thursday evening, Ben had sent Hux a series of videos of him signing, telling Hux how to say **I like music**. **I play the piano**. Hux had told himself he was watching them again and again to get the signs right, but his attention had gone from Ben’s hands—broad palms, long fingers—to the way his lips moved as he half-mouthed the words along with the signs and to the way his expressions shifted so fluidly. He had pretty brown eyes, too—kind eyes that he often hid. But he couldn’t fancy Ben, not when he had no idea of his orientation and had just managed to befriend him. If he suggested something more than that, Ben might clam up and never speak to him again.

“He’s different than anyone else I know,” Hux said truthfully. With more caution: “I find him rather fascinating.”

Rae chuckled softly. “That makes him sound very special indeed. But, please do think of him at another time, as we still have fifteen minutes, and I want you to play through the allemande again. _At the proper tempo_.”

Hux turned obediently back to the piano and began the piece.

Their lesson finished promptly at four o’clock, when Hux gathered his music and left the studio to meet his father, who always sat just outside in the designated place for parents. He read the newspaper as if he couldn’t get a digital subscription. It was a ruse, though; he listened closely to everything Hux played.

“Did you make notes from the critique?” Brendol asked as he folded his paper under his arm and led the way to the elevators.

“Yes, sir,” Hux replied. “I have a great deal to work on this week. I’m hoping to play the second movement for you and Maratelle tomorrow evening. And some Chopin; it’s still her favorite.”

“She’ll like that,” Brendol rumbled.

He had married Maratelle a few years after Hux’s mother had died, when Hux was eight. She was ten years younger than Brendol and Hux had no idea what she saw in his curmudgeonly father, but she had always been good to Hux without trying to mother him too directly. He admired her for it, and he liked to consider them close. Maybe he wouldn’t tell her his secrets, but they got on just fine.

“Do you have any special requests, sir?” Hux said. “Beethoven? Or something more modern?”

“Play what you like,” said Brendol, and that was that.

The wind was up outside, and Hux tugged at the sleeves of his sweater, pulling them down over the backs of his hands. They would catch the subway a block from here, take it to Grand Central Terminal, and from there get the northbound train to Endor Cross. Maratelle would be there in their brand new Lexus to pick them up.

Cell service was spotty at best in the subway, so Hux had to wait until they got to Grand Central to check his phone. He sat with his father by their platform, pressing his lips together to keep from smiling as he saw he had a message from Ben.

_How was your lesson?_

Hux typed, _It went well. I got scolded for playing too fast, but I’ll work on it. I have very precise instructions for what to practice this week. How was track this morning?_

He watched the screen until it dimmed, but the phone buzzed before he could tuck it away.

_Your teacher sounds like a drill sergeant._

_She expects a lot of her students. Doesn’t your coach want you to do your best?_

_Fair point,_ said Ben, _but I don’t think there’s as much pressure on me as there is on you. You want to go to Juilliard._

 _You’re very good at running,_ Hux wrote. _All-State. Could you run in college?_

Ben replied, _I don’t think I’m *that* good. Maybe I could be on a club team, but not first string or anything. Plus, I don’t know about college anyway._

_You said as much, yes. You’ve got another year to decide, though. You’re only a junior._

_Applications are due this spring,_ Ben said. _Are you applying anywhere other than Juilliard?_

Hux didn’t want to, but he had his fallbacks, as most high school students did, performers or not. _A few other conservatories around the country. One or two back in England. One in Vienna, but I don’t know any German._

_Me neither. Signs are different all over the world. I might be able to make out British Sign Language, but it would take a while to learn it._

_I imagine that makes travel difficult,_ Hux said. So many things were difficult for Ben, he thought, and he couldn’t hear music. Despite the fact that they talked about Hux’s piano a great deal, Hux had never once asked if Ben wished he could hear. It had to be incredibly rude, and Hux didn’t want to make him angry, or hurt him.

 _I could go with a hearing person,_ Ben wrote. _My dad’s taken me on a couple of his trips before. We go to museums and do tourist stuff. If anyone says something I can’t hear or read, he signs to me._

 _But you’ve never been abroad?_ Hux asked.

_Nope. Unless you count Africa. But I don’t because I don’t really remember it._

_Where would you go, if you could?_

The ellipsis bubble popped up and disappeared, popped up again.

_Australia maybe. Or New Zealand, where they filmed Lord of the Rings. You ever read those?_

_I saw the films,_ Hux said.

 _You should read the books,_ said Ben. _They’re amazing._

Hux had never been a voracious reader, but he read a few books a year. Ben, he imagined, went through dozens.

 _Do you have a big library at your house?_ he asked.

Ben said, _Not a dedicated room or anything, but the den has a lot of big bookshelves. My dad put them in himself after my uncle told him I was going through the school library pretty fast. Ms. Allen also knows me pretty well._

The curly-haired librarian had known exactly where the ASL books Hux had been looking for were, and she had asked if Hux’s interest in sign language was new.

“Very new,” he had told her.

 _You’ll have to recommend me some things,_ said Hux.

 _Do you have any time to read anything other than music?_ Ben asked.

_I’ll find the time._

The announcement came that the train was boarding, so Hux went with Brendol to take their seats in one of the cars. He chose a seat by the window—it was nearing dusk now—and went right back to his phone.

Ben had sent a message a couple of minutes before: _What kind of stories do you like? Historical fiction? Sci-fi? Biography? I don’t see you as a fantasy person, but I could be wrong._

 _You mean dragons and wizards?_ Hux said. _Like Lord of the Rings?_

_Okay, well everyone should read Lord of the Rings, whether or not you’re into fantasy. It’s foundational. But I’m talking like high sword and sorcery fantasy. We won’t start there._

That sounded well enough to Hux. He let Ben continue.

 _Are you an escapist?_ Ben asked.

Hux frowned down at his phone. _You mean I try to get away from things?_

_Yeah, like real life. You want to forget the present and slip into a story. I’m like that. Sometimes I just can’t stand the real world. There are a lot of limits and rules and bullshit high school drama. That doesn’t exist in books._

_I think I like real life just fine_ , Hux said.

Ben wrote, _Okay. Something light to start…_ He narrated a bit more, suggesting things and probing Hux with more questions until he had decided on five books he would bring to school on Monday for Hux to choose from.

 _So many?_ Hux asked. _What happened to starting small?_

 _That *is* small_ , Ben replied.

“Next station Endor Cross. Endor Cross, next station.”

Hux slipped his phone into his pocket and headed for the door. He and Brendol were the only two passengers to disembark on the small platform. On it there was a small indoor seating area in a deliberately quaint brick building, and Maratelle’s car was visible just on its other side. Hux hastened over, tucking himself into the back seat.

“How’d it go, Armitage?” Maratelle asked, looking at him in the rearview mirror as she pulled out of the little parking lot.

“Fine,” he said. “Rushing through the allemande, but with technical precision.”

“Those quick fingers of yours,” she teased. “Good. Are you hungry? I’ve made chicken and risotto.”

Hux’s stomach grumbled. Since Maratelle was only a part-time editor for _Woman’s Shape_ , she had a great deal of time to herself at home, so she cooked. Hux and Brendol never wanted for variety or quality in their meals.

“Very,” he said.

He grabbed his phone to say a quick goodnight to Ben, who would also be having dinner soon.

Ben wrote, _Night. Talk to you later._

Hux said, _See you on Monday._

 

****

   

At lunch on Monday afternoon, Ben produced the promised books from his backpack, setting them on the table in front of Hux. He texted, _Pick one. I’ll keep the rest._

Hux looked over the spines, finally settling on _Hyperion_ by Dan Simmons. Ben looked him over, appraising.

 **What?** Hux signed.

 _I didn’t expect you to choose that one_ , Ben wrote. _It’s kind of escapist. But it’s super good. You’ll have to tell me what you think._

 _I will_ , Hux promised as he tucked the creased, well-used paperback into his bag. He would start it tonight after he practiced piano and looked over his ASL books. He was onto the third chapter of one now, and had some good conversational phrases down that he wanted to practice.

 **Class was boring today** , he signed. **I want to go home.**

Ben grinned and quickly signed back: **You’re still studying ASL?**

 **Yes** , Hux said. **I want to learn.** He unfortunately didn’t understand all of Ben’s reply, though he recognized the signs for **learn** and **me**.

 **I don’t understand** , he signed.

Ben picked up his phone. _You want to learn because of me?_

Hux said, _Who else am I going to sign to?_

Ben liked that; he smiled broadly and was quick to type, _I’ll teach you._

 _Are you a good teacher?_ Hux asked. He had been thinking he would sign up for a beginner’s ASL class at Skywalker School for the Deaf in town. He had looked at their website last night, reading up on the costs and time commitment of a course. It wasn’t overly expensive, but he wasn’t sure how he was going to ask his father or Maratelle for the money without having to explain what he was doing. It wasn’t a dark secret, of course, but it was unlike anything else he had ever done or been interested in. There would be questions, none of which he wanted to answer.

 _I guess I am?_ Ben typed. _I’ve never taught anyone before._

Hux raised his chin with false haughtiness. _Well, I suppose you’ll do for now._

Ben made a face at him and signed: **Asshole.**

Hux flipped him off, which was pretty universal.

 _Do you already know how to introduce yourself and stuff?_ Ben asked. _The basics._

 _Yes,_ Hux replied. _Do you want me to do it so you can see?_

Ben signed: **Yes.**

Hux nodded and took a breath, recalling the signs. It was still difficult to make his fingers do exactly what he wanted—despite his dexterity on the piano—but he managed: **Hello, my name is Hux. Nice to meet you.**

Ben signed back: **Nice to meet you. My name is Ben. How are you?**

 **Good** , said Hux. **How are you?**

Ben’s reply was a series of signs at a rapid pace that Hux couldn’t follow. He crossed his arms and, arching a brow, waited for Ben to clarify.

He broke down the phrase into its constituent signs, stating each one as he demonstrated: “I. Am. Glad. To See. You. I’ve. Been. Looking. Forward to. It.” He dropped his hands as he finished, the beginnings of a timid smile touching his mouth.

Fondness blossomed in Hux’s chest, and he signed back: **I am glad to see you today.**

“Not quite,” Ben said. He reached across the table and took Hux’s hands in his, manipulating his fingers into position and guiding him through the signs. His skin was warm, his palms soft, and the heat in Hux’s middle burned hotter at the touch. When he drew back, Hux repeated the signs, hoping he had them right. Ben signed: **Good job.**

Hux replied, **Thank you.**

They went through more phrases between bites of their lunches. Ben taught him all the signs for the food they were eating: sandwich, apple, milk, potato chips. Hux tried to commit them all to memory, but he would have to review them tomorrow. _Tomorrow._ He just assumed it was a given now. This would be their habit.

 _Do you miss your old school?_ Ben texted after they had finished their food and he had called their lesson in ASL done; Hux could only learn so much in one sitting.

 _Sometimes_ , Hux wrote. _There were always other boys around to talk to, and even if you hated your roommates at the start of term, you usually came to accept them by the end._

_Did you have a lot of friends there?_

Hux shrugged. _I wouldn’t call them close friends, but we all knew each other well._

Very well, in some cases. Putting a few hundred pubescent boys on one campus with shared housing and no girls tended to breed certain relationships between them. One got used to hearing the others in his dormitory masturbating at night, and eventually—with careful testing of the waters—some of them started taking care of each other. Experimentation was natural among them, and Hux had been quick to realize his preference was for kissing the other boys rather than fantasizing about the girls they never saw.

Hux had had a regular arrangement with one of the boys two years above him in sixth form. They had kissed and groped and tasted in the hidden corners of the old school buildings until they had learned what the other liked. That boy had taught Hux a great deal about what two men could do together, and he had missed him when he had graduated. It would have been easy enough to find someone to replace him had Hux started the term there again this year, but no—he was at Endor Cross now, and things were done very differently here.

 _I feel like it would be weird living with so many people all the time,_ Ben said. _I’m an only child, so I’m used to having my own room. Privacy, you know?_

 _It’s nice to have that now, yes,_ said Hux. _But you get used to sharing a room and a washroom._ He pursed his lips. _The boys in the locker room in gym class are so shy. They wouldn’t dare look at each other as they change. And we don’t even have to strip down to shower._

The athletics class in American high school was short and almost nobody broke a sweat. Hux was used to long periods of sport in the mud and pissing rain.

It was Ben’s turn to shrug. _Maybe they don’t want to look so nobody thinks they’re gay._

Hux stilled, uncertain how to reply. He had to tread carefully here. How much he revealed could put a stop to this friendship as sharply as a whip crack.

 _I see_ , he typed slowly. _Would someone have a problem in this school if he were?_

Ben wrote, _There’s always some tension, I guess, but two guys have been out since last year and nothing bad’s happened to them. Do you know Finn or Poe?_

 _Finn,_ said Hux. _He’s in homeroom with us. I’ve never met Poe. They’re a couple?_

Ben nodded. _Since freshman year, but they didn’t tell anyone until they were sophomores. I think the counselor called them into his office or something to talk about it, but nobody made it a big thing. They’re both pretty popular, though, so it helped. Poe’s the quarterback on the football team and Finn is running for class president._

Hux didn’t have that kind of status, but at least the climate in the school wasn’t completely hostile. He really wouldn’t have wanted to get slammed against lockers and roughed-up for being gay. Not that he was in a rush to tell anyone.

However, he found himself asking Ben, _Are you okay with them?_

 _Of course,_ Ben replied. _Even if they don’t talk to me, they’ve always been nice. And I’m not homophobic or anything, if that’s what you’re asking._

Hux looked down, abashed. _I didn’t mean to imply you were._ A few seconds passed where he kept his focus anywhere but on Ben. His phone buzzed again.

The message read: _Are you okay with it?_

When Hux turned his eyes back up, Ben was studying him openly, with earnest curiosity. Hux typed _Yes_ and nothing more, but he held Ben’s gaze, hoping he could read the truth.

Ben blinked once, expression unchanged, and then went back to his phone. _Are you out?_

_My parents know, but I’d rather not have it spread around school. If you don’t mind._

_I’m not very good at whispering secrets in people’s ears_ , Ben said. _I won’t tell anyone. Thanks for trusting me with it, though._

Hux gave a short, grateful nod. _Thank you for understanding._

Ben looked thoughtful and perhaps a little nervous. His thumbs hovered over his phone’s keyboard, but before he could start typing, the bell rang, ending the lunch period. Ben glanced up to see the other students starting to head back inside and tucked his phone away.

 **Let’s go** , he signed before picking up his tray and standing.

Hux followed him silently, though he wondered what Ben had been thinking that had him hesitating.

Phasma was already at their lab bench when Hux walked into the chemistry room, and she had a pair of goggles on top of her head, the instructions for the experiment in her hand.

“Hey, Hux,” she said as he dropped his bag and picked up his own copy of the lab procedure. “Have a good lunch?”

He eyed her sidelong, knowing a pointed question when he heard one. “Yes. What’s your point?”

She huffed. “You were with Ben Solo again. The two of you were bent over your phones for a while and then you were doing sign language with him. Then it was back to your phones. What’s going on with you guys?”

“We’re talking,” said Hux. “He doesn’t like to speak all the time, so we text. And he’s teaching me sign language.”

Phasma radiated interested surprise. “Well, damn. That’s actually pretty clever. To text, I mean. And the sign language, too. So, you’re...friends?”

Hux tipped his head to the side in acknowledgment. “I like to think so.”

“Look at you go,” Phasma said, clapping him on the back hard enough to rattle his teeth. “The only person in three years who’s been able to make Ben Solo say more than five words to them.”

Hux frowned darkly at her, defensive. “They didn’t give him the opportunity.”

“Well, neither did he,” she countered. “He blows off anyone who tries to make eye contact. Everyone except you.”

“I just stopped to think how I might talk to him on his terms,” Hux said. “And I’m glad I did. He’s all right once you get to know him. Funny, even.” Maybe that was a stretch, but he did make Hux smile with irreverent signs and his forthright questions and answers.

“I’ll take your word for it,” said Phasma. “He still glares at me in math during third period, and I can’t figure out why.”

“He hates maths,” Hux said, “and you’re good at it and answer all the questions correctly.”

They had talked about it a few days ago, when they had agreed they both liked Mr. Tarkin and his English class. After _Romeo and Juliet_ they would be reading _Catch-22_. Ben had already read it and said it was really funny but cutting social commentary. Maths, though, was “the bane of his existence,” he had said. He struggled with it more than any other subject. People like Phasma, to whom it came easily, were “the worst” because they didn’t have to try.

“He’s jealous of how good you are at it,” Hux told Phasma.

She brightened. “That’s kind of sweet. Maybe I could help him out sometime. I mean, if he’s okay with that.”

Hux smiled at her. “Ask him, shall I?”

“Could you ask it in sign language?”

“Not yet,” he replied. “I don’t know the sign for maths or for ‘tutor.’”

Phasma made a face. “Don’t use that word. It’s loaded, and kind of condescending. I’d just walk him through some problems if he wanted. Nothing formal.”

“Very well, then.” Hux reached for a pair of goggles of his own. “Perhaps you could work with me, too? I’m not so keen on geometry.”

“Sure thing,” Phasma said. “Come over to mine one of these days after school and we can hit up Pythagoras.”

Hux laughed. “Sounds good. Shall we get started on the lab?”

Phasma picked up their worksheet. “‘Step One…’”

 

****

 

The book Ben had lent him proved to be engrossing, and Hux had stayed up late on Monday night tearing through the first hundred pages. By today, Wednesday, he was more than halfway through. He had texted Ben about his favorite characters, and how he wanted to know what the Shrike really was and how he couldn’t wait for the pilgrims to get to Hyperion. Ben replied, happily taunting him with snippets of details, though without any true spoilers.

“You’ve have your nose in that book this whole week, Armitage,” Maratelle had said to him at dinner tonight—salmon with ginger cream sauce and baby yellow potatoes. “It must be very good.”

“It is,” he had said, slicing a potato.

“Keeping you from practice, that’s what it’s doing,” Brendol had grumbled.

Maratelle had wagged her fork at him. “He’s doing just fine, dear. He started right after he got home from school. The third movement of the French Suite is coming along wonderfully.” She had smiled at Hux. “And he works hard. He deserves to enjoy a book if that’s what he wants to do.”

As he was washing up a few minutes later, Hux had stopped her by the sink. “Thank you for saying that, earlier. I’m not letting my playing slip, but…”

She had lain a hand on his bicep, squeezing his skinny arm. “You’re a musician, but you’re also allowed to be a teenaged boy. And”—she winked—“what trouble can you get up to if you’re sitting in your bedroom reading?”

Hux had snorted. “When have I ever been trouble?”

“There’s always time,” she had laughed.

He was there now—his bedroom—lying against a pillow propped up on the headboard. Millicent, his ginger cat, was curled up in his lap, her claws pricking him through his pajama trousers as she kneaded contentedly. The book in one hand and the other scratching her ears, he couldn’t imagine a more comfortable place.

In all honesty, he was happy in America. Certainly, the first weeks of unpacking boxes that had come over on a ship and being dragged along with Maratelle to pick out new furniture had been tedious, and his first week of school a challenge, but he had found the safe niche of routine. He always said hello to Phasma first in homeroom, but when Ben came in, he had taken to signing **Hello**. Ben always looked as if he was half-dead in the mornings.

 _You’re not really a morning person, are you?_ Hux had written to him after he had sat down today.

Sleepily, he had glared at Hux from across the room and signed: **No. Go away.**

 By the time lunch came around, though, he was less of a zombie. When they had met on the quad, he was all but vibrating with excitement about a list of signs he had put together for Hux to learn that day.

Stroking Millicent’s soft fur, Hux set down _Hyperion_ and grabbed his phone from where it was charging on his bedside table. He brought up his messages with Ben and typed: _What’s the sign for “cat?”_ He was prepared to wait, so he set the phone down, but only moments later it was vibrating. He picked it up to see a video message waiting.

In it Ben was standing in front of his bathroom mirror, affording Hux a view of his washed-out t-shirt of a band Hux didn’t recognize. He held his phone in his left hand and with the right formed the sign for the letter F—thumb and forefinger almost touching with the three other fingers held up—at the level of his mouth. He put thumb and forefinger together as he moved the hand to the side, as if he were stroking a cat’s whiskers.

 _Do you have a cat?_ Ben asked under the video.

Hux snapped a picture of Millie on his lap and sent it to him. _This is Millicent. I got her as a gift for my eighth birthday._

Ben sent back: _She’s cute. And red-haired, like you._

Though he hated waking her up, Hux scooped her by the belly and held her up next to him to take a selfie. She looked utterly offended at being disturbed and Hux wasn’t smiling, but it would do. He sent it to Ben along with: _Yes, we match._

There was a pause of a few minutes, where Hux was left to set Millie back down on his lap. She gave him a disdainful look, but settled back down onto his legs. He leaned back against the headboard of his bed, wondering if he had done something wrong. Ben sent him videos; was there something wrong with sending a picture of himself back? He got no proper answer when Ben replied. Instead he read:

 _We’ve never had any pets_. _My dad travels too much for work and my mom’s too busy to take care of one._

 _What about you?_ Hux asked.

_I’m at track too late to let a dog out. I guess we could get a cat. Or a lizard or something. Dad would flip if I got a snake._

Hux shuddered. _Gross._

 _Haha_ , Ben said. _Scared of snakes?_

 _They’re just fine as long as they’re outside_ , said Hux. _I have no interest in having one in my house._

Ben sent a video of another sign. He crooked his forefingers down into a hooked V shape and slithered his hand forward like a snake. That one didn’t need any explanation.

 _I hope not to use that,_ Hux texted back, suppressing a yawn as he pressed send. The clock on his table read 10:21. _I should go to bed._

_Yeah, me too. I was all set to sleep, but then you just *had* to ask about a sign._

Hux could read the sarcasm, and said, _You could have ignored it._

 _I don’t ignore you_ was the simple reply.

Hux closed his eyes, sighing. “Dammit, Millie,” he muttered, rubbing her under the chin. “Why is he like this? Why can’t he just be... _not_ cute?”

He typed, _I wouldn’t be offended if you went to bed. I don’t always have my phone on me._ It was mostly true; he had it much more often with him now than he had before.

 _If you don’t reply I figure you’re playing piano,_ Ben said. _I have this idea in my head of you going all Beethoven from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and just ignoring everything around you while you play three keyboards at once._

Hux hadn’t seen that film in years, and he said as much.

 _Then you’ve got to come over and watch it sometime_ , Ben wrote. _It’s one of my favorites. It never gets old._

 _I’ll take you up on that,_ Hux said. A soft couch, popcorn, and Ben nearby sounded wonderful.

 _It’s a deal_. A pause and then: _You going to bed then? Want me to leave you to your beauty sleep?_

Hux put out the light and turned onto his side, cradling his phone in his hands. _Beauty I don’t know about, but sleep? Yes._

It was shameless fishing for a compliment, which Hux almost regretted. The ellipsis popped up and hovered, and he waited anxiously.

 _It’s both_ , Ben wrote. _Trust me. Goodnight, Hux._

Hux, heart tight, replied, _Goodnight, Ben._

 

****

 

September weather came on full force the next day: rain lashed the windows of the school building and the temperature dropped considerably. At lunchtime, there was no chance of going to his and Ben’s usual table under the oak, and Hux found himself glancing uncertainly around the cafeteria after he had picked up his lunch tray. The usual groups were laying claim to tables already, leaving very few seats available. Hux took a few steps toward Mitaka’s table, but Ben caught him with a tap on the shoulder before he could. Tipping his head, Ben started off toward the doors that led into the main hallway.

Students weren’t supposed to leave the cafeteria or quad with their food, but Ben didn’t seem to mind. He went purposefully down the hall, Hux completely unaware of their destination. Still, he kept pace with Ben until he turned the corner and ducked into Mr. Tarkin’s classroom, where they had English. He ushered Hux inside and shut the door behind them.

Ben set his tray down on Mr. Tarkin’s desk and went about pulling two of the smaller desks together. He gestured to the one nearest Hux and Hux, seemingly without any other choice, took the seat. Ben slid into the chair across from him and pulled out his phone.

 _Before you say anything,_ he typed, _no, we’re not supposed to be in here. But there have been a couple of times that I needed to get away from everyone and Mr. Tarkin let me sit in here. He wouldn’t talk to me—just sit at his desk and grade papers while I ate and read. He always looked at the book I was on, though._

 _That was good of him,_ Hux texted back. _Do you often have to spirit yourself away in here?_

_A few times a semester, maybe. Sometimes it just all gets to be too much, you know? Everyone waving and talking and just flowing around me like I’m a rock in a river. Nobody notices and just goes around._

Hux could imagine Ben sitting tucked away in the corner of the cafeteria, sequestered and ignored. It made him angry just to think about; Ben deserved far better.

 _Don’t take this the wrong way,_ Hux wrote, _but why do you go to school here? Isn’t there a high school for the deaf?_

Ben sighed through his nose, quickly texting: _There’s one in the city, but I would have had to take the train there every morning, then the subway, and then walk four blocks._ He chewed his cheek. _And I don’t want to spend my whole life exclusively with other deaf people. I want to get to know others. It’s why I got so good at reading lips. And I made sure I could still speak. I may not be great at it, but I can talk if I need to._

Hux understood to a point, but if Ben was so lonely at their school, would it not have been better to go to the school in the city? He asked as much.

 _I had already started here_ , Ben replied. _It would have been a pain in the ass to change schools. And the deaf school doesn’t have sports. I really like track._

 _I understand,_ Hux said. _I could tolerate a bit of solitude if it meant I could play music._

Over his phone, Ben lifted his brows, leveling Hux with an inquisitive look. _Could you play in the school band or something? Do they even have pianos in band?_

Hux chuckled. _Not in a concert band, no, but in a smaller ensemble certainly. Unfortunately, there’s only the concert band here, and the orchestra. I don’t fit in either._

 _So, no band camp, huh?_ Ben teased.

Hux wrinkled his nose. _Not likely._

Ben picked up his sandwich and took a bite, wiping his fingers on his jeans before typing again. _I’d like to watch you play sometime, if that’s okay with you._

 _Sure_ , Hux said as he chewed a bit of watered-down canned fruit salad. _I like playing for an audience._

Ben shifted in his chair, almost restless. _Would you maybe want to come to one of my track meets sometime? There’s one this weekend._

Hux hadn’t expected that, but the invitation was a welcome one. _What time is it? I have piano lessons in the city at one o’clock._

 _Starts at 9:00_ , Ben wrote. _There are events into the afternoon, but I’m running a few races before 12:00._

 _Okay,_ Hux said. _Should I get there right when it starts?_ He gave a hint of a smile. _And bring my pompoms?_

 _Don’t you dare,_ said Ben. _But 9 or 9:15 is good. There should be more than enough seats on the bleachers. Not as many people turn up for track as they do for football._

Hux nodded. _Sounds good. I’ll be there._

Ben grinned, and if Hux wasn’t mistaken, his cheeks flushed ever so slightly.

They turned to their food, and as Hux picked up various parts of his lunch, Ben signed at him: **What’s the sign for that?**

Hux had to fumble through a few from earlier in the week, some of which he misremembered and did poorly enough to make Ben wince.

 _Have I said something rude by accident yet?_ Hux asked.

Ben signed, with a wicked smile: **Not yet.**

He didn’t have any particular system for teaching, Hux had discovered; he often just thought of phrases at random to show, and it was difficult to put them in any sort of context to memorize. Hux sometimes took notes to look up the signs later on YouTube, but most of the longer phrases Ben picked out for him weren’t online. Hux had to learn the constituent parts before he could use each sign to create his own phrases. As good as Ben was to try to teach him, Hux had realized that if he ever really wanted to learn the fundamentals of ASL, he needed a real teacher.

He had resolved today after school to ask Maratelle for the money for the beginner’s class at Skywalker School for the Deaf. It was a few hundred dollars, which was hardly anything in the grand scheme of things. He had considered telling her it was for some after school club, but the classes were from six-thirty to eight o’clock in the evenings; he had to be honest. He didn’t plan to tell Ben, though. First off, he didn’t want to hurt his feelings by seeking out another teacher. Secondly, he wanted to surprise him with how much he was picking up. When he eventually admitted it, hopefully it would make Ben happy.

“Hey. You awake in there?”

Hux snapped his attention back to Ben, who had broken the deep silence in the room. Hux signed: **Sorry. I was thinking.**

**About what?**

Hux used one of the signs he had learned from his ASL books and not Ben: **It’s a secret.**

Ben leaned in, eyes narrowed. **I like secrets** , he signed.

Hux shook his head firmly, and Ben made a face. He signed a few things Hux didn’t understand. For once, Hux didn’t demand he tell him what it meant; he just sat back and frowned. Ben stopped, but raised his hands again, pointing at Hux’s: his signal that Hux was meant to sign what he did.

 **Slowly** , Hux signed to him.

Ben demonstrated the motions from start to finish before interpreting: “If you want to keep a secret, you can, but I don’t like lies. Please don’t lie to me.”

Concerned, Hux paused in signing. “I won’t lie to you,” he said. “I don’t lie to my friends.”

Ben signed: **Promise?**

Hux nodded, holding out his hand. “I give you my word.”

Ben’s grip was firm around his fingers as they shook. Brendol Hux believed a firm handshake took five seconds at most, but Hux didn’t immediately let go to Ben’s hand, and Ben didn’t pull it back. They stayed there, hands joined over their empty lunch trays. Hux’s heart thrummed as he felt Ben’s thumb rub gently along his knuckles. Ben was staring straight at him, his gaze intent enough to make Hux think he saw nothing else in the room. Hux stared back, waiting—but for what, he didn’t know.

The opening of the door startled them both. Mr. Tarkin, grey-haired and severe, halted just over the threshold as he caught sight of them. His eyes tracked right to their hands. Hux yanked his back, and thankfully Ben released him.

“What exactly do you two think you’re doing in here?” Mr. Tarkin asked darkly.

“We...uh…” Hux stammered.

“We just needed to be alone,” said Ben.

Mr. Tarkin’s right eyebrow arched with suspicion. “I gave _you_ permission to come here, Ben, not to bring your friends.”

“Sorry,” Ben said. “We won’t do it again.”

“As well you shouldn’t,” Tarkin said. He pointed to the clock. “You have ten minutes left of lunch. Best get yourselves back to the cafeteria.” They got up, but before they could turn for the door, he added, “Next time you want some privacy for handholding, best wait until you get home.”

Embarrassed, but unwilling to stick around to clarify what they had been doing, Hux scurried out, leaving Ben to follow him. They delivered their trays to the dish station before signing **See you later** and heading for their classes. Hux tucked his right hand into his pocket, preserving the warmth he imagined still lingered there from Ben’s touch.

 

****

 

“Armitage, is that you?” Maratelle called from the living room. She was sitting on the sofa Hux saw as he came through from the entryway, with her laptop on her thighs. “There are carrots and oranges in the kitchen if you’re hungry.”

“I’m all right,” Hux said. He passed by on his way up the stairs to drop off his bag in his room. It had space enough for a full-sized bed and a small desk, both of which were neatly ordered. The bag went into his desk chair, and he stopped by the closet to take off his shoes and put on his slippers. In the ensuite, he washed his face and used the toilet before heading back downstairs.

Maratelle smiled at him as he came into the living room. “How was school today?” she asked, setting her laptop aside.

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Hux said. “Well, perhaps a little out of it. The rain kept me and my friend from sitting outside. We might have broken a few rules and snuck into a classroom for lunch instead of staying in the cafeteria.”

“My, my,” Maratelle said, her disapproval wholly affected. “How naughty of you. Did you enjoy yourselves?”

He sat down on the piano bench, hands resting on his knees. “We did.” He rubbed his palms along the corduroy of his trousers, looking for the right words. “Maratelle,” he began, “I have something I’d like to do, and I’d not like Da to know about it.”

His stepmother perked up with interest, her delicate features reflecting it clearly.

Hux continued, “My friend—the one from today—he’s been teaching me American Sign Language, so I can talk to him. He can’t hear. There’s a school for the deaf in town, and they offer classes for beginners, and I was hoping to take the first course.”

“Oh, Armitage,” said Maratelle, “that’s remarkable. You’ve never expressed any interest in that before. Is it just because of your friend?”

“Yes,” Hux said. “Nobody in school can sign and he’s left out for it.” He raised a hand, stopping Maratelle from speaking. “I’m not doing this because I feel bad for him. I like him, and I’d like to learn.”

“Well,” she said, “who am I to stop you? But why not tell your father?”

Hux touched the closed lid of the piano. “Because he would want me to spend my time here. He wouldn’t think it worth those hours.”

Maratelle conceded, “Perhaps. If you go to the classes, though, what will you tell him?”

Hux had prepared this untruth, and had asked Phasma to be complicit in it that afternoon in chemistry lab. “I’m not doing very well in my maths class and am going to join a study group on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?” Maratelle asked. “You’ve always been a good student.”

“Can you think of anything better?” said Hux.

She rested her fist at her chin, contemplative, but replied, “I suppose it will do. I don’t care to lie to him, Armitage, but doing something like this for a friend is extremely kind. If Brendol asks me outright, though, I’ll tell him the truth.”

Hux nodded. “I can agree to that.”

“Very well, then,” Maratelle said. “Have you signed up for the course yet? How much is it?”

“Three hundred and seventy-five dollars,” Hux said. “I can pay online with a credit card, or I can take a check on the first day of class.”

“And when is that?”

“Next Tuesday.”

Rising from the sofa, Maratelle went to retrieve her purse from the table in the entryway. From her wallet she pulled her Visa card and held it out of Hux. “Use this one. Your father doesn’t check the statements.”

“Thank you,” Hux said as he took it.

She chucked him under the chin, a rare familiarity. “You’re a good boy, Armitage. Go on and sign up. Bring the card back when you’re done.”

Hux went up the stairs again and powered on his laptop. The Skywalker School website was already up in his browser, but he refreshed it and clicked on the “Take a Class” button in the upper right corner of the screen. He selected ASL for Beginners T/Th from the list of courses and put in Maratelle’s credit card information. The transaction took a few seconds longer than he would have liked, but soon enough the confirmation screen appeared, telling him he was registered. Glad, he leaned back in his chair. Maybe by the end of the school year he’d be able to hold a decent conversation with Ben without saying or texting a word.

 

****

 

Hux could see his breath in the damp morning air as he stepped out of the car near the high school track. He had a knitted scarf wrapped around his throat and an insulated mug of licorice tea in his hands.

“I’ll be back at noon,” Brendol said from the drivers’ side. “Don’t be late for your lesson.”

“I won’t,” said Hux. “Thank you for the ride, Da.” He shut the passenger door firmly and didn’t look back as his father drove away.

The track was about three hundred feet away up a gravel path. A few other people were making their way up from the parking lot, some carrying small coolers of snacks or blankets to wrap up in on the bleachers. Several busses from neighboring school districts were parked in the nearby lot; at least four other schools were here. Hux set off up the path, watching as the figures in Endor blue came into view on the near side of the field.

Hux passed by the chain-link fence surrounding the track, peering inside for Ben. He found him standing by the water coolers, his headphones over his ears as he stretched. He was bundled up in a jacket and gloves, but his long bare legs stuck out from his running shorts. Hux considered going over to get his attention, but Coach Cardinal got to him first. He waved Ben over, and off Ben trotted. Hux went up into the bleachers instead, picking a spot about halfway up, between a family with two small girls and a pair of pensioners wearing _Go Endor!_ sweatshirts. Hux hadn’t any team colors, so he was in his burgundy peacoat. He hoped that didn’t make it seem like he was rooting for the other teams.

There was some commotion on the track as the PA system crackled to life. “Good morning, everyone! Welcome to Endor Cross High School, home of the Bears. We’re starting today’s events off with the national anthem, so please rise and put your hands over your hearts.”

Hux stood, but kept his hands behind his back. He didn’t feel it was his place to fully participate in this American ritual. When the strains of the Star Spangled Banner faded out, he sat down again and popped open the seal on his mug. The tea was strong and warmed him from the inside out.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer continued. “Our competitors for the 800-meter relay are going to take their places on the track. In the center of the field we’ll be having our men’s discus.”

There was a shot from a starting gun and a pack of runners took off to start the race. Hux watched them for the first lap, but was then drawn to the discus throwers. He knew nothing about form or scoring, and he didn’t bother to Google either on his phone, so he just took it in. The family with the little girls had a stake in the relay and cheered loudly when a high school girl with hair just as blond as theirs started her laps. Hux didn’t recognize her; she must have been in a year above or below him.

After that race had finished, the announcer called for the 100-meter hurdles. It wasn’t to say that Hux _wanted_ someone to catch their toe and fall, but the prospect certainly made the idea of the event more interesting. However, he was treated to all eight runners finishing without scathe. A boy from Tatooine High School won.

Ben’s first event was the 100-meter dash. As he went to take his place, Coach Cardinal appeared a few feet farther down the track with a red flag in hand. He exchanged a few words with the woman who fired the starting gun and she nodded. As she raised the little pistol, Cardinal held the flag up. Ben had his eyes trained on him, and Hux realized that that would be his signal to start; he couldn’t hear the gun fired. Together, Cardinal and the woman gave the go-ahead and the runners were off.

Ben’s long legs ate up the ground as he sprinted, putting him almost immediately out in front. He was the tallest of the runners in the group, two of whom were also from Endor Cross—the rest from other schools—and he was putting a startling amount of distance between himself and the pack. They streaked by the bleachers and toward the end of the straightaway, where Ben crossed the finish line first. The Endor Cross fans cheered and waved towels and pompoms.

The other boys from the school patted Ben on the back, presumably offering congratulations. He flashed them brief smiles before setting his hands on his hips to catch his breath. He was facing the bleachers, looking up into them. Hux set his mug down and got to his feet; he hoped his coat and hair would stand out. Ben’s gaze tracked to him and Hux waved. Ben’s grin this time was broad enough to bare his teeth. Hux folded his hands over each other and shook them once: **Congratulations.**

Ben signed back: **Thank you**. And then he dashed back to where the rest of the team was preparing for their next races.

He ran two more races before noon: the 400-meter and 200-meter dash. He took second in the 400 and won the 200. Hux had been hoping to get in a word with him before he had to leave, but so far there hadn’t been a break in the events that would have allowed for it. He was keeping a close eye on the scoreboard clock when finally the announcer called for a ten-minute stop to set up another round of hurdles. Hux snatched up his empty mug and jogged down to the fence. Ben met him there, signing hello.

 **Good job** , Hux signed to him. **I’m impressed.**

Ben smiled. **Thanks! It was easy.**

Hux narrowed his eyes and signed: **Liar.**

 **It’s true,** Ben insisted. **It’s easy when you’re here.**

Hux blinked at him, surprised. **Why?**

He spread his fingers, putting the middle one forward and touching his chin. “Lucky,” he said.

“Oh,” Hux murmured. Ben continued to smile, and Hux found himself returning it, albeit shyly.

Ben raised his hands to sign something more, but before he could, his gaze was drawn to his left, where a man in his late fifties, Hux guessed, with gray hair and a scruffy, almost unkempt beard was walking determinedly toward them. Next to him was one of the tallest people Hux had ever seen: a man about the same age, but with a full auburn beard and shaggy hair. Both of them wore Endor colors. Ben, turning to them, began to sign rapid-fire. Once or twice, he gestured to Hux.

“Well,” said the gray-haired man as he and his towering companion stopped a pace away, “I didn’t know Ben had a friend coming to see him run today.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Han Solo, Ben’s dad.”

Hux saw the resemblance now, though Ben’s features were less rugged and his cheeks higher. He put his hand into Han’s and shook it. “Hello, Mr. Solo, I’m Hux. Armitage, but I prefer Hux. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise, kiddo,” Han said. He hitched a thumb at his companion. “This is Chewie, Ben’s uncle.”

Hux went to offer his hand, but Chewie—what a strange name—signed **Nice to meet you, Hux** , spelling his name out. Hux quickly signed back: **Nice to meet you**.

“Ben says you’re just learning ASL,” Han said.

“Yes,” Hux replied. “I’m not very good yet, but he’s helping me to learn.”

“He’s modest,” Ben interjected. “He’s good at it.”

Han chuckled. “No need to be modest, Hux. It’s not an easy thing to do, but if you’re giving it a go and already know a few things, that’s great progress. It took me a while to catch onto it. Hopefully, you can do better than I did when I first started.”

“I’m trying to pick up as much as I can,” said Hux.

“Sure, sure,” said Han. “You, ah, want to come sit with us for the next few races? Unless you’re here with someone else.”

Hux shook his head. “Thank you, but no. I have...an appointment.”

With a cocked brow, Han asked, “Appointment? Sounds _very_ important.”

Ben signed a few things at him, but Hux only recognized one sign: **asshole**.

Han barked a laugh. “Okay, okay, I won’t tease him.” To Hux: “Well, we won’t keep you, then, Hux. We’ll see you again, I hope, though, nice boy like you.” He winked at Ben, who was red in the face and scowling.

Hux wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the two of them, but he said, “Yes, I hope so. I should go.” He turned to Ben and signed: **See you later**.

Brendol was idling in the Lexus when Hux got back to the parking lot, and as Hux got into the car, he said, “Been here three minutes.”

“Sorry, Da,” Hux said. “I was talking to my friend.”

“Hmph,” Brendol grumbled. “Well, let’s be off, then.”

It wasn’t until Hux was out of his lesson with Rae that afternoon that he saw the picture Ben had sent of himself with three medals around his neck.

 _I’m really glad you came_ , the text under it read. _My good luck. See you on Monday._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Illustration for this chapter:  
> [These lovely panels](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/173857301710/nadiasna7-allemande-by-gefionne-koujaaku) by [nadiasna7](https://nadiasna7.tumblr.com/)


	3. Third Movement

Skywalker School for the Deaf was on the other side of town from Hux’s house, and he had initially worried about how he was going to get there. Maratelle, though, had come home the night before with a new bicycle for him. She had put it in the garage, saying, “We’ll have to find another solution when the snow starts, but this will do for now, won’t it?” Hux had embraced her with genuine affection and gratitude.

Bundled in a scarf, hat, and gloves, he had cycled to the school and chained the bicycle to the rack outside. The three-storey colonial was old, as were most buildings in Endor Cross, and had been repurposed once or twice before. In its newest iteration, it housed several classrooms and a large assembly space. The room Hux was looking for was on the third floor, and the roof slanted low to the side, keeping the occupants to the desks at the right of the space.

There were four other students, all in their twenties and thirties, and they came over to Hux and introduced themselves.

“I’m sure we’ll be asked why we’re learning ASL,” said a pretty woman with her dark brown hair in intricate braids, “but what brings you here?”

“Just an interest,” Hux lied. “And you?”

“My sister’s daughter was born deaf,” she replied, “and I want to be able to sign with her.”

Hux smiled. “That’s good of you.”

She held out her hand. “I’m Arianne.”

“Hux.”

They chose adjacent desks, Hux laying his notebook down on top and folding his hands in his lap. The chatter of the students died down as a man with salt and pepper hair grown out to the collar of his blue button-up shirt came inside. He wore a smartly done tie in yellow. Behind him came a skinny girl about Hux’s age; she carried a stack of papers.

“Good evening,” the man began. His speech was like Ben’s, though maybe a little clearer from practice. “My name is Luke and I’ll be teaching the class.” He gestured to the girl. “This is my teaching assistant, my daughter Rey.”

She signed **Hello** as she spoke it.

“I welcome all of you to the class,” Luke said. “We’ll be covering the fundamentals of ASL that you would need to hold a conversation with someone. Is anyone here already familiar with the alphabet?”

Hux raised his hand.

Luke asked, “Will you spell your name and then demonstrate the rest of the letters for us? Stand, if you please.”

Hux got to his feet and formed the letters: **H-U-X**. And then he went into the rest of the alphabet starting from the top.

Luke raised his hands and wiggled the fingers. “This is the sign for applause,” he said. “Very well done, Hux.”

“Thank you,” Hux said. Feeling bold, he signed it, too.

Smiling, Luke tapped Rey on the shoulder. She gathered up her papers and began to distribute them to the students. They were worksheets of the alphabet and the signs to give one’s name and say hello. Hux tried not to be disappointed; he already knew all of this. However, this was a _beginner’s_ class; they would start with the basics.

“How much do you know?” Rey asked as she gave Hux his worksheets. She seemed to be a hearing person by her speech pattern.

“Some,” Hux replied. “I have a friend who teaches me.”

She grinned. “That’s cool. Well, you might be bored for a little while, but we’ll get into the more complicated signs in a couple of weeks.” With a little bounce in her step, she headed back to the front of the room.

“We’re going to begin with a bit of history,” Luke said. “You may take notes if you wish, but you won’t be tested on this. It’s just for your information.” He leaned on the broad teacher’s desk in front of the blackboards. “American Sign Language traces its origins to our very state of Connecticut. Originally known as the The American Asylum, At Hartford, for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, the school was founded in 1817 by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. He spent time in France acquiring a knowledge of French Sign Language, which when combined with the regional sign language of Martha’s Vineyard, where most of his first students came from, he began to formulate what would become American Sign Language.

“As the nineteenth century progressed, more schools were established and ASL proliferated around the country. The creation of organizations like the National Association of the Deaf supported the adoption of ASL over a broad geographic area, which was unprecedented. Previously, all sign languages had been regionally created and used. Since, ASL has continued to develop to adopt new signs and words for the modern era. What we’ll be learning here is a language unto itself and very exciting, as it will help you to become a part of the deaf community.”

Luke smiled softly, and Hux found himself taking to his open manner and teaching style. This would be a good class, he decided, and it would bring him even closer to Ben.

They worked their way through basic signs for the rest of the session, Rey sometimes helping the students along with corrections. For the most part, Luke watched silently, a solemn guide. His attention fell several times on Hux, who was quicker and more adept with the signs than most of the other students.

As the class came to an end, Luke approached him and signed: **You’re a clever boy. Why are you here?**

**For my friend** , Hux answered. **He’s deaf. I want to sign with him.**

Luke’s next signs he didn’t understand and he signed that, requesting clarification.

“That’s admirable,” Luke said. “He’s lucky to have a good friend like you. I look forward to working with you in the class.” He signed: **See you on Thursday.**

Hux watched him walk out, leaving him with only Rey.

“Do you go to the high school in town?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Are you an exchange student?” She added, “Your accent.”

“No, I live here now,” he said, “but I’m new. I haven’t seen you at school.”

She straightened the papers she had left, tucking them into a folder. “Nope. I’m home schooled. Luke—Dad—teaches me himself.”

Hux crossed his arms over his chest, curious. “Is that common in this country?” He hadn’t met anyone in England who had been educated in their home.

Rey shrugged. “Common enough, I guess. Mostly it’s hyper-religious people. I just didn’t do well in school when I started as a little kid, so Luke pulled me out and took over.”

“Does it get lonely?”

“Not at all. I have tons of friends from this school.” She smiled. “I take some classes here, too. We’re like family.”

Ben had made that same comparison and Hux was tempted to ask her if she knew him, but he wasn’t ready to reveal that it was him Hux was learning for. It wasn’t a secret at school by any means; Hux just didn’t trust Rey not to blab to Ben that Hux was in her class.

“That’s nice,” Hux said as he shrugged his coat over his shoulders and pulled on his gloves and hat. “See you Thursday, I suppose.”

“Yep,” said Rey. “See you around!”

The ride home was crisp, and Hux was glad to get back into the warm house by the time he got there. Maratelle and Brendol were sitting in the living room by the fireplace watching something inane on television.

“How was your club meeting, Armitage?” Maratelle asked between sips of her nightly cocktail.

“Good,” he said. “I’m going up to finish my homework and then to bed. Goodnight.”

Upstairs, he changed into his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and slid into bed. Pulling out his phone, he texted Ben: _Hey._

The reply came right away: _Hey. Did you do the chemistry problems? There was a ton of math and it took me forever. I still don’t think I got them right._

_Do you want to compare answers?_ Hux asked.

_Nah, it’s fine. If I get them wrong, I get them wrong. It’d probably be suspicious if I just showed up with everything right tomorrow._

_We can leave a couple imperfect._

_Don’t worry about it,_ Ben said. _I’ll crash and burn like a man._ A pause, and then: _How’s the French Suite going?_

Hux was working on the fourth movement now, and it hadn’t been very pretty as he sight read it that afternoon after school. He had a great deal of work to do before it was remotely acceptable to play for Rae or his parents.

_All right,_ he wrote. _I’ve got a long way to go, though._

_You know,_ Ben typed, _there’s a school musical in the spring and they always need somebody on the piano. Usually Mrs. Robertson, the choir teacher, has to play it, but I bet she’d pay you to take over for her._

Hux replied, _It’s probably a big time commitment. I don’t know if my father would allow that._

_Even if you’re practicing the piano the whole time?_

_Well, I might be able to make an argument for that. Is the show ever any good?_

Ben said, _How would I know? It looks pretty good, though. They always do the major dress rehearsal for the whole school._

Hux just managed to hold back from apologizing for the indelicate question. _I’ll consider it._

_What are you doing right now?_ Ben asked.

_Lying in bed_ , Hux replied. _I could be watching some house hunting show with Maratelle and Da, but I’d rather pluck my own eyes out._

_I wish I could hear the way you say “Da,”_ Ben wrote. _It probably isn’t at all right in my head. I’d never seen that before you._

_It’s just like “Dad” without the second D_ , Hux said. _A long A sound, if that helps._

_Kind of. I probably won’t try to say it so I don’t do it wrong._

Hux typed, _Even if you did, I wouldn’t care. I like hearing your voice sometimes._ The more they got to know each other, the freer Ben was with speaking out loud, but he still avoided it if he could sign or text instead.

_I’d like to hear yours_ , Ben said. _The accent and all. I can see the different way you shape the words, but it’d be nice to actually hear it. Don’t people say an English accent is sexy?_

Hux’s stomach flipped with a mix of pleasure and nerves. Was Ben implying that _he_ was sexy? No, likely not. Americans did find Hux’s accent charming, though, and never hesitated to tell him so.

_I’ve heard that here, yes_ , Hux replied. _I don’t see the attractiveness, but it sounds perfectly normal to me. Drab, everyday._

_What do Americans sound like?_ Ben asked. _Do I sound like them?_

_It’s hard to pick out an accent with you,_ Hux said, in earnest. _But the American accent is flatter and more...rounded, I suppose, than mine?_

_Huh_ , Ben typed. _Sounds cool. Anyway, how’s the book going?_

_Good. Kassad is an asshole._

_Yeah, but a kick-ass one. You still like Brawne most? And Johnny?_

_Their story is fascinating_ , said Hux. _I want to pick up a book of Keats’ poems._

_I have one_ , Ben said. _I’ll bring it for you tomorrow. Do you like poetry?_

The boys at Arkanis had been made to memorize and recite certain poems for the class, and Hux had always enjoyed it. He had a good ear for the meter and a clear speaking voice his teachers had always complimented.

_Well enough_ , he typed to Ben. _I don’t know much about the Romantics, though._

_You will if you read Keats_ , Ben said. _I’ve tried reading it aloud before. My teachers at my old school said it would help us learn to control our voices. I guess it helped. I just liked the poems._

_Do you write your own?_ Hux asked. Ben wrote prose, he knew, but he hadn’t said anything about poetry.

_Not really,_ Ben replied. _I’d rather write a novel._

_What would it be about?_

Ben wrote, _I don’t know yet. I have a bunch of different ideas, but carrying them through is hard. I’d like to go to a workshop or something someday._

_Surely they have those in the city,_ Hux said. He opened a browser window and searched for “novel writing courses New York City.” The results were numerous and covered every genre he could think of. Screenshotting the page, he sent it to Ben.

_I think I’m too chicken to sign up for one_ , Ben said. _Nobody’s ever read my stories._

_Not even your parents?_ Hux asked.

_*Definitely not.* I don’t really tell people I like to write._

Hux typed carefully, purposefully. _Why did you tell me?_

The ellipsis bubble stayed up for a while before Ben’s message came through.

_I don’t know why, but I find it really hard to hide anything from you_ , he wrote. _You have this way of looking at me—all green eyes and interest—that makes me want to spill my guts. And I trust you not to laugh at me for it. Is that weird?_

Hux really, really liked that Ben trusted him, and he had noticed the color of Hux’s eyes? He tried not to read too much into that.

_I don’t think it’s weird_ , Hux said. _I think it’s great that you want to be an author. What would I laugh about?_

_Nothing, I guess_ , said Ben. _But still...thanks. Maybe if I write something I actually like, you could read it and tell me if it’s total garbage?_

Hux typed, _I’m not a critic, but I’ll read anything you want me to._

_Thanks, Hux. I’m gonna head to bed, but I’ll see you tomorrow._

_Goodnight, Ben._

Hux flipped his phone face-down and plugged it into the charger. He hoped Ben would share his writing sometime; he wanted to see the part of him he had never shown to anyone else. Flicking off the light, Hux stared up at the blank ceiling and smiled.

 

****

 

“Pass me the litmus paper, will you?” Hux asked, holding out his hand to Phasma. They were in chemistry lab again, this time running another experiment with acids and bases.

She adjusted her goggles and took a delicate strip of red paper out of the dispenser they had been given. “So,” she said, “how’re things going with Ben Solo?”

Hux carefully lowered the tip of the paper into the solution in his beaker. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, everyone sees you together at lunch all the time,” she said, leaning on the bench, dangerously close to the Bunsen burner. “You don’t really hang out with anyone else. Is it getting serious?”

“ _What_?” Hux hissed. His fingers shook and he dropped the litmus paper into the beaker. “Shite.”

Phasma regarded him with perfect innocence. “I meant are you good friends. What did _you_ think I meant?”

Hux’s face was burning; he glared at her. “I heard your tone loud and clear. You’re making a very significant assumption—one some people might not take kindly to.”

She raised her hands defensively. “I didn’t mean to offend.”

“You didn’t,” Hux sighed. “But there is nothing going on between Ben and I, I assure you. We’re just friends.” He narrowed his eyes. “ _Good_ friends, as you said.”

“Message received,” Phasma said. “It’s pretty great, though. He’s got a lot more bounce in his step since you showed up. He actually looked at me in homeroom this morning without scowling. And he lights up when you’re around. It’s sweet.”

Hux sucked his teeth distastefully. “It’s not meant to be quaint. I earnestly enjoy his company, and he hasn’t turned me out yet, so I think he enjoys mine. Why does it have to be a big to-do that we’re friends?”

Phasma turned to face him, clearly seeking his full attention. “He’s had a reputation for being cold since he started here two years ago. I think a few people tried to reach out, but he always pushed them away. People just gave up when he didn’t want to talk to them. You’ve basically done the impossible and made Ben Solo like you. I think some people are impressed.”

“Are you?” Hux asked.

She nodded. “Yes, honestly. People are curious about you because of it, too. You don’t have many other friends, but you thawed Solo’s icy heart. You might benefit from talking to others around here, getting to know them. You might generate some real social capital.”

“I have no interest in being popular,” Hux said coolly. “I don’t have the time to run for student council and go to all the football games.”

“Right,” said Phasma. “Your music comes first.”

It wasn’t common knowledge that Hux’s focus was on the piano, but he had told her about it, as it was why he had moved to the States in the first place. Considering that no one else in the school knew that, he supposed he could understand why he might be a curious figure. He had just appeared in the junior class with a funny accent and no interest in after-school activities, and then had proceeded to befriend the class hermit.

He looked down at the slowly dissolving litmus paper. It didn’t matter to him, really, that his friends were few, but perhaps he could do with sharing a little more about himself with his classmates. Perhaps Ben’s suggestion that he join the orchestra for the spring musical wasn’t a bad one.

“I don’t mean to be cross,” he said to Phasma. “I appreciate your advice.”

She smiled. “Look, why don’t you come out to the movies with us this weekend? Finn, Poe, and I are going to see something. We get pizza beforehand and then eat ourselves sick on movie candy.”

“Doesn’t sounds particularly comfortable,” said Hux. “But yes, I’d like that. When?”

“Saturday at five. I’ll tell everyone you’re in.”

The request for Ben to join them was on the tip of Hux’s tongue, but movies in the theater weren’t normally closed captioned. Was that required if someone asked for it? He didn’t know. But in the end, if Phasma had invited just him, it was best he not have Ben tag along.

“All right,” Hux said. Picking up a dropper, he went about fishing the litmus paper out of the beaker. “Let’s get this lab report done.”

 

****

 

“ _Art thou gone so? love, lord, ay, husband, friend!/I must hear from thee every day in the hour,/For in a minute there are many days:/O, by this count I shall be much in years/Ere I again behold my Romeo!_ ”

Hux, holding his book his in hand, read in reply to Jessika Pava, who was reading the part of Juliet: “ _Farewell! I will omit no opportunity/That may convey my greetings, love, to thee._ ”

Jessika read, “ _O think'st thou we shall ever meet again?_ ”

“ _I doubt it not,_ ” Hux replied, careful of the cadence of the words, “ _and all these woes shall serve/For sweet discourses in our time to come._ ”

He turned his eyes up from the text for a moment to see Mr. Tarkin, leaning on the edge of his desk, nodding along with their recitation. They had been reading this section of _Romeo and Juliet_ aloud for several minutes, and Hux was ready for it to be done. Not that he objected to the Bard, but it was eighth period and he was itching to get out of his chair.

“ _O God, I have an ill-divining soul!_ ” Jessika continued, far flatter and less enthused than an appropriate Juliet would have been. “ _Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,/As one dead in the bottom of a tomb:/Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale._ ”

Hux didn’t need to read the last lines to recite them, and instead he looked at Ben, who had been staring hard at him, focused on his lips as he read. “ _And trust me, love,_ ” Hux said, slower, more carefully for Ben’s benefit, “ _in my eye so do you:/Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!_ ”

Ben was glassy-eyed, almost spellbound, as he watched, and Hux tried not to imagine that it was admiration—affection—in his looks. He had taken to leaving his headphones off more and more, and he wasn’t wearing them now. His ears stuck out just slightly from under his hair, and Hux wanted to trace the shell of one, if just to see his reaction. As Ben seemed to come back to himself, he signed: **Good job**.

Hux signed back: **Thank you**.

Mr. Tarkin’s sharp voice cut across the room: “Do you two have something you want to say to the class?”

Hux turned quickly away from Ben, lowering his gaze, chagrined. He was prepared to offer an apology, but before he could open his mouth, Ben spoke.

“I just told him he did a good job,” he said.

The students around the classroom were gaping at him, and Hux could guess they had never once heard him utter a word. Hux couldn’t meet their eyes when they glanced at him.

Mr. Tarkin said, “Yes, he did do a good job. Armitage, you might want to try out the drama club.”

“Yes, sir,” Hux mumbled, wanting to hide in his book and be rid of the attention currently on him. He was immensely relieved when Mr. Tarkin launched into his discussion of the section of the play they had just read.

When the final bell rang, Hux packed up his notebooks and planner hurriedly, ready to escape. In his pocket, he felt his phone vibrate.

The message from Ben read: _You were so embarrassed before. I won’t sign again if it bothers you._

Hux looked up in search of him and found him still sitting at his desk, face stony. Hux went to him, texting as he walked. _It doesn’t bother me. We’re just going to get in trouble if we sit there and have a whole conversation in the middle of class._

Ben peered up at him, but signed angrily: **Fuck it**.

Hux texted, _I’m not in the mood for detention. Are you?_

Ben’s shoulders fell. _No. Sorry. I just thought you didn’t like signing with me outside of lunch. It guess it’s kind of weird._

_It’s *not* weird,_ Hux was quick to reply. _There’s nothing wrong with signing. I want to do it with you as much as I can. I’m not embarrassed by it, if that’s what you think._

The downturn of Ben’s mouth softened some. He signed: **Okay**. Getting up, he packed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

_What are you doing this weekend?_ he wrote as they walked out of the classroom.

Hux debated whether to tell Ben about his plans with Phasma, but in the end decided it was better to tell the truth and just see how Ben took it. _I have my piano lesson tomorrow afternoon and then Phasma invited me to see a movie._

Ben, impassive, asked, _Like Netflix and chill?_

_No!_ Hux replied, frowning at him in affront. _I’m not interested in Phasma. You know I’m not *inclined*._

_I know, I know_ , Ben wrote. _I was just kidding. Forget I said it. What movie?_

_Don’t know, actually_ , said Hux. _I suppose it’s a roll of the dice whether it’s something I actually want to see._ He paused, once again deliberating before typing, _Do they do closed captioning in movie theaters?_

_By law, yeah,_ Ben said. _But I’m busy on Saturday. We’re having dinner at my uncle’s._

They crossed out into the windy early October weather. Ben had track practice starting at three o’clock, but they had formed a habit of him coming out to see Hux onto the bus every afternoon. They had never agreed upon it; it had just started to happen and neither of them had done anything to stop it.

_That sounds nice_ , Hux wrote. _You and your mother and father?_

_Yeah, but my cousin gets to ditch and go out with her friends. She always comes to our house for dinner, though, when I’m allowed to ditch it._ He stopped near the curb where the buses were lined up. _I usually don’t have anywhere to ditch *to*, though._

Hux grinned. _Is it always on a Saturday?_

_Mostly_ , Ben said.

_Then next time it’s dinner at your house we’ll go to the city all day,_ he typed. _We can take the train down in the morning and come back in the evening after dinner. You might have to sit through my piano lesson, but you can read. Or I could ask Rae if you could watch._

Ben’s face, so open and sincere, was radiant. _That would be amazing! I haven’t been to the city in a while._

_Why not?_ asked Hux. _It’s not far away._

_Nobody to go with,_ Ben replied. _Mom and Dad are too busy usually. And we don’t have anything really to do there._

Hux huffed. _You don’t need anything to do in the city to go there. You can just wander around and watch the people. Have a coffee and look out the window of the shop. Take the subway to Central Park and just walk._

Ben smiled. _I’d really like to do that with you._

_We will_ , Hux promised. _We absolutely will._

The bus’s engine turned over, signalling that it was ready to leave. Hux tucked his phone into his pocket again and signed: **Have a good time at practice. See you later.**

Ben signed **See you later** and headed back toward the building.

Sat in his seat near the middle of the bus, Hux started to plan all the places he would take Ben in the city, from where Rae’s studio was to his favorite sweet and coffee shop and then to the riverside park for a walk. It would be aimless and they likely wouldn’t say much, but it was more appealing an idea than Hux had had in a very long time.

 

****

 

_We’re at Bella Italia on Ash Street_ , Phasma had texted at 4:30 the next afternoon, when Hux was at the piano idly playing Billy Joel songs his father hated but Maratelle enjoyed. He had run upstairs to change into a heavier sweater and comb his hair before heading out on his bicycle to the restaurant. Brendol had given him twenty dollars for dinner and the movie, which he kept in a new-smelling leather wallet he had gotten as a Christmas present the year before.

When Hux got there, he found Phasma, Finn from homeroom, Poe, the quarterback of the football team and Finn’s long-term boyfriend, and to his surprise, the girl from his ASL class, Rey. She offhandedly signed: **Hello.**

“I see you two already know each other,” said Phasma as Hux sat down at their table. They had taken the liberty of ordering him a soda, which he didn’t care for but would drink anyway.

“Yeah,” said Rey. “He’s in Dad’s beginner’s ASL class.” She winked. “And showing everybody else up, too.”

Hux held back a pleased smile, saying instead, “If you don’t mind, I’d rather not spread around that I’m taking the class. It’s meant to be a surprise for my friend.”

Poe, a startlingly attractive boy with a strong jaw and wavy black hair, said, “For Ben? That’s really cool of you, man.”

Rey’s eyes went wide. “ _Ben_? Like, Ben Solo?”

Hux, unable to deflect, said, “That’s right.”

“Oh my god,” Rey said, a dazzling smile splitting her pretty face. “ _You’re_ his friend at school? He’s been so much happier lately and he’s always texting someone. I thought he was just dicking around on his phone, but then I saw the messages.”

Hux blanched. “You read our texts?”

Rey waved him off. “No, no. I just saw what he was up to.” She laughed, a charming sound. “He really likes you.”

“I like him, too,” Hux said before hiding his face with a sip of soda.

Phasma was eyeing him knowingly, but Poe and Finn seemed totally unfazed by his shyness.

Finn picked up a menu and handed it over, saying, “We usually get half Hawaiian and half pepperoni. You can get something else, though, if you want.”

Hux took the menu but set it aside. “That sounds fine. Thank you for having me along, by the way.”

Poe, who sat beside him, clapped him on the back. “Sure thing, buddy. Phasma says you’re pretty cool. You like it in Endor Cross so far?”

“I do, yes,” Hux said. “It’s different, but everyone’s been kind to me.”

“You been to a football game yet?”

“I’m afraid not. Only a track meet.”

Rey beamed. “Han said Ben had someone come to see him run last weekend! He was so stoked about it. He tried to play it cool, but we all saw through him.”

Hux tried his soda again, but the inquisitive looks couldn’t be avoided. “Yes, I met Han and...Chewie?”

“Oh yeah,” said Rey. “He and Han are business partners and have been friends for a really long time. He always goes to Ben’s meets.”

Ben _had_ said he had an extended family, even if not blood-related.

“Well,” said Poe, “you’ve got to come to the homecoming game at least. Everyone comes to that, and then the dance after.”

“Is that different than the prom?” Hux asked. “I’ve only ever seen films about it.”

Finn laughed. “Yeah, it’s different. Homecoming is in the fall and prom is in the spring. Juniors don’t go to prom, though, just homecoming. You should think about finding a date.” He elbowed Phasma in the side. “You’re almost as tall as her. Maybe you could go together.”

Phasma scoffed. “You know I only go stag.”

“You just haven’t found the right girl,” Rey said, maybe a little more meekly than Hux might have expected. And _girl_? Well, he hadn’t seen that coming, but maybe it explained Phasma’s good sense of Hux’s own orientation from Friday’s insinuations about Ben. Unfortunately, the more time Hux spent with him, the more accurate those insinutations were.

To Hux’s absolute shock, Phasma’s cheeks turned a bit pink and she did her due hiding in her glass of soda. Rey was fiddling with her straw, not looking up. _Well, then._ He wondered how long it would take for them figure out what was really going on. Finn and Poe seemed to be on the same page as Hux; they exchanged exasperated glances.

“Anyway, it’s a fun time, Hux,” said Poe. “A real slice of Americana. You shouldn’t miss it.”

“Well, you’ve convinced me,” he said, albeit with limited enthusiasm. “May I join you all, perhaps?”

Finn grinned. “No ‘perhaps’ about it! You’re welcome to come with us. And, uh, why don’t you bring Ben, too? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him there.”

Rey shook her head. “No way. He’s not the school spirit type. And Ben at the dance? Yeah right.”

Hux could understand that. He knew how to dance himself, but that was partner dances like the Fox Trot, not the kind of grinding most people did at high school dances in films. He wasn’t particularly interested in that, either.

“Why don’t you ask him anyway?” Finn said. “If he doesn’t want to come, that’s okay, but at least you asked, right?”

“Right,” said Hux.

Poe placed their order for two medium pizzas with pineapple and ham and pepperoni. Hux got a briefing on what was happening in the band—Finn was the first chair trumpeter—and discovered that Phasma sang alto in the choir.

“Depending on what the musical is this year,” she said, “I might try out.”

Hux said, “I was told they might need a pianist.”

“Oh, hell yeah we do!” Finn exclaimed around a mouthful of pizza. “You play?”

“He’s almost a professional,” Phasma said. “Right?”

He swallowed. “Well, it’s not quite that, but…” The explanation took only a few minutes, and by the time he was done, everyone was duly impressed.

“That’s really cool, Hux,” Rey said.

“Thank you,” he said, finishing off his soda. It was admittedly well-paired with the pizza.

“Do you ever write your own music?” Poe asked.

Hux had only ever written short, simple melodies with classical influences, but never anything significantly original. A concert pianist wasn’t necessarily a composer.

“I’ve not tried anything of consequence,” he replied. “I suppose I could someday, though.”

“So awesome,” said Finn. “Pianists are next level musicians. I can’t imagine reading both bass and treble clef at the same time while actually _playing_ both. I admire you.”

Hux chuckled. “It’s not so incredible as all that. It just takes a lot of practice.”

“And no small measure of talent,” Phasma said, flashing him a grin. She tossed down her napkin. “You all ready to go? We’ve got twenty minutes to get to the theater.”

When they had settled their bill, they set off down the street toward the three-screen movie theater in the center of town. Hux walked his bicycle, listening while they all chattered amongst themselves about other classmates and the Bears’ winning streak under Poe’s leadership. It was an altogether normal evening for a group of teenagers in America, Hux decided. And he was enjoying himself. The only thing that would have made it better, though, was Ben.

 

****

 

The house was small enough to be filled with music when Hux played, from the upstairs bedrooms to the kitchen, where Maratelle was spending the day baking, as she often did on Sundays. Hux could smell the cookies from his perch on the piano bench, cozy and sweet. The gavotte of his recital piece was coming along well, though he preferred the other movements. The allemande, he loved.

He was nearing the end of the measure when he saw his phone light up with a new text message; he had taken to keeping it face-up on the bench beside him while he practiced. He had given Phasma, Rey, Finn, and Poe his number so they could exchange messages, but somehow Hux knew it wasn’t any of them. The text was from Ben.

_I’m so bored,_ he wrote. _What are you doing?_

Hux replied, _Practicing._

_Which piece?_ Ben asked.

Earlier in the week, Hux had showed him the music, though Ben couldn’t read it. He wrote, _The French Suite again. I’m on the gavotte today._

_Sounds like “fun.”_

_It is, thank you very much. Why are you so bored?_

_Nobody’s home_ , Ben said _. Mom’s downtown and Dad left for Chicago yesterday._ He hadn’t told Hux much about what his father did, but it was something with shipping, and he flew a small aircraft. Something nebulous and vaguely disreputable. His mother, though, worked for the Nigerian Embassy in the city. He continued, _There’s nothing on Netflix and I finished my book this morning._

Hux smiled to himself, imagining Ben flopped out on the sofa looking annoyed while he scrolled through the massive number of films and shows on his television. There was no way there was actually “nothing” on Netflix, but Hux knew the feeling of not being able to find anything he wanted to watch. Not that he watched television often.

_You’d be just as bored here,_ he sent. _I’m just sitting in front of the piano all afternoon._

The ellipsis bubble appeared and disappeared several times, as if Ben was writing a response and then deleting it and starting again. Finally, the message came through: _Could I come watch you?_

Hux paused, considering. He had played for many people before, but only his instructors and his parents had watched him practice. He wasn’t embarrassed, but he wondered how long it would be before Ben grew tired of watching his hands and hearing none of the music. But, he liked the idea of having him around.

_Okay,_ he said. _If you want to._

_Cool,_ said Ben. _It shouldn’t take me more than a half hour to walk there._

A jolt of excitement cut through Hux’s stomach. Oh, he very much liked the idea of Ben coming over. _Just ring the doorbell,_ he said. _I’ll come get it before Maratelle does._

_Is it okay with your parents that I come over?_

Hux had never had hosted anyone before, but he couldn’t imagine they’d object, not when he was going to continue practicing while Ben was here. _Yes._

_Okay. See you in 30._

Locking his phone, Hux slid off of the bench and went into the kitchen.

“The gavotte sounds good already,” Maratelle said as she caught sight of Hux.

“Thank you,” he said. Rubbing his hands along his thighs, he asked hesitantly, “May I, uh...may I have a friend over to visit?”

Maratelle’s brows rose with bright interest. “Really? A friend from school?” At his nod, she wiped the flour from her hands and went about straightening her already perfectly coiffed hair. “Of course, Armitage. Your school friends are always welcome.”

“All one of them?” Hux said, wry.

Maratelle gave him a soft, if admonishing, look. “You’re a lovely young man with whom anyone should want to spend their time. And you were out yesterday. What’s your friend’s name? Shall I make you some sandwiches?”

Hux chuckled at her eagerness. “We don’t need sandwiches. And his name is Ben.” He bit his lip. “He’s deaf, so he won’t say much.”

“Oh,” Maratelle said. “He’s the one you’re going to the classes for. But if you can’t talk to him yet…”

“We text,” Hux explained, waving his phone. “And I’ve got a decent enough grasp on ASL that we can sign a bit.”

Maratelle’s hand went to her heart. “Armitage, that’s lovely. Well, I’ll slice some apples for you, and these cookies should be done in an hour.” She asked, “What should I say to him?”

Hux, glad she had thought of that—his father wouldn’t have—replied, “The same thing you’d say to anyone else. He can read lips. Just speak slowly. He doesn’t understand our accent very well.”

“Our...oh, well, yes,” she said haltingly. “I’ll do my best not to be rude.”

“If you make a mistake, he shouldn’t be too put-off.” He frowned. “They’re not very kind to him at school.”

“But you are,” Maratelle said.

“I like him,” said Hux. He didn’t mean to say it as quietly as he had; it gave him away. He flushed under Maratelle’s all too knowing smile.

“Does he like you as well?” she asked.

Hux deflected quickly: “I didn’t mean it like that. We’re just friends.”

“Okay, dear,” she said. “Snacks in a few minutes.”

He went back into the living room and sat down at the piano. He counted down the minutes as he idly plunked out a few notes; he didn’t want to play too loudly and miss the sound of the doorbell. It was getting worrisome how easily people were guessing that he was more fond of Ben than he might be of another friend. But he had never had to hide his interest in someone before. At Arkanis, he had just been able to approach another boy with the usual suggestions. If that boy wasn’t interested, he’s say as much and Hux would go about his business without concern. There usually wasn’t any lingering awkwardness; Hux had always been careful to observe and feel someone out before he actually made an advance.

Ben, however, was something altogether different. Hux got brief inklings of some kind of interest, but he could never be sure; and he was conscious of how he could ruin things if he was more straightforward about his affection—and that’s what it was. He had been fond of boys at Arkanis, but never overly invested in his relationships with them. If he had to put it colloquially, he had a crush on Ben, and should Ben return it, he would want to see him, well, seriously.

Hux struck the B-flat key several times without thinking much about it. There was something undeniably intimate about playing for someone alone—not in concert, but for just one person. He felt it sometimes with Rae, but that wasn’t romantic in the least. He feared it would be with Ben; he wanted to show off, yes, but Ben would be watching only him, only his movements, rather than listening to the music. It would be like it had been in English class, where Ben had stared and Hux could feel it to his core.

The doorbell chimed, and he shot immediately to his feet, hastening to the door and pulling it open. Ben, in his letterman jacket and with a knit hat over his head, stood outside. He signed: **Hello**. Hux signed it back, holding the door open for him to come inside. He didn’t know the signs, but he pointed to the coat rack and then held out his hands. Ben got the message and shrugged out of his jacket, turning it over to Hux to hang on the rack.

Maratelle appeared from the kitchen, offering Ben a smile. “Hello,” she said. “I’m Armitage’s stepmother Maratelle. It’s nice to meet you.”

Ben, pulling his hat off, said, “It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m Ben. Thank you for letting me come over.”

“Of course!” Maratelle said, beaming. “You’re welcome. Would you like something to drink?”

“We’re all right, Maratelle,” Hux said. “We’ll just be in the living room.”

She nodded. “Certainly. I’ll leave you to it.” She flashed another smile at Ben and returned to the kitchen.

Ben signed at Hux: **She’s nice**.

**I like her** , Hux replied. **Come with me**.

He led the way into the living room, and Ben was drawn right away to the piano. He ran his fingertips over the keys, pressing down the A. He tipped his head to the side and struck another note. Hux signed: **G**. Backing up a step, Ben gestured to the bench. Hux pointed to the couch, and Ben sat there, hands resting on his knees.

Taking up his place, Hux arranged the music to start with the allemande. He would play through to the gavotte; it wouldn’t be too long and tedious for Ben that way. He drew in a breath, fingers poised above the keys, and then began to play. He let the notes resonate, leaning into them and, at times, closing his eyes. He could sense the intensity of Ben’s attention, but it wasn’t a distraction; it fed him, and he put his body into his playing more and more. When, at last, he came to the end of the gavotte, he drew back and let the last chords linger with the sustain pedal.

Ben made the sign for applause, smiling softly—fondly, Hux imagined. Hux got up and took the customary bow. Ben grabbed his phone and started typing.

_You get really into it when you play_ , he wrote. _It’s cool._

_Thanks_ , Hux said. _I love it a lot._

_I wish I could hear it_ , said Ben. _From watching, I bet you’re really good. Your hands are so quick. You shouldn’t be as bad at signing at you are._

Hux glowered, signing: **Fuck you**.

Ben grinned. _Is it true if I lie on the piano or something, I can “feel” the music?_

Hux had read about that kind of thing on the internet when he was doing some research on how deaf people took in music. He had stayed up late one night reading articles about deaf musicians and how they learned to play without being able to hear the notes.

_I’ve heard it’s true_ , he said. _But you would know better than I would. We can try it, if you want to. Let me just put the lid down._

He stood to lower the heavy top back into place, hiding the strings and hammers. Ben came over from the couch and leaned over it, his palms flat on the lid. Hux supposed that would work. He returned to the bench and started the allemande again.

He didn’t look at the music, but stayed focused on Ben, who was pressed close to the body of the piano, his chest against it. Gradually, he laid his head down onto the lid, his cheek down, and closed his eyes.

Hux played through the movement with determination, though he couldn’t actually force the hammers to strike any harder than he was. Ben looked peaceful laid out over the piano, and Hux’s chest filled with warmth. He already loved this, loved sharing the music in whatever capacity Ben could consume it.

When he stopped, Ben blinked his eyes open and smiled. **It feels good** , he signed. **Play more**.

Hux nodded and began the next movement.

He finished up to the gavotte again, and, looking up at Ben, signed: **Done**.

Ben raised himself up, stretching his shoulders and arms. **It’s cool** , he signed.

Hux grinned, getting up from the bench for a brief stretch himself. At some point during his mini concert, Maratelle had come in with fresh apple slices in a bowl of water, two glasses along with bottles of the Perrier she always drank, and a plate of fresh-baked oatmeal cookies. It was all sitting on a tray on the coffee table. Hux pointed to it, and Ben eagerly went over to sit on the sofa again. Picking up one of the cookies, he showed Hux the sign for it. He demonstrated those for the rest of the snacks, too, all of which Hux mimicked.

Eventually, Ben took out his phone. _I was definitely kidding before when I said you’re not good at signing_ , he wrote. _You’re doing amazing. Like a natural._

_Thank you,_ Hux replied. _I’m enjoying it._

_You should come practice on someone else sometime_ , said Ben. _You can come to dinner at my house._

Delighted at the prospect, Hux typed, _I’d like that. I’ll need to ask my father to be excused from dinner here._

Ben wrinkled his long nose. _Father Dearest, may I venture to yon estate and sup with mine schoolmate Benjamin?_

Hux shoved his shoulder and Ben laughed, a complete surprise. Normally he smiled when he was amused; Hux had never heard him laugh aloud before. It was a loud kind of braying sound, but Hux took to it right away. He wanted to hear more.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Millicent, his cat, trotting into the room, her tail standing up proudly. She came straight for the sofa, springing up onto the arm Hux was leaning against.

**Cute cat** , Ben signed. **How do you spell her name again?**

Hux signed it out as she ventured down over his lap and toward Ben. Ben held his hand out, rubbing his thumb lightly against his forefingers to entice her over to him. Curious, she sniffed his fingers. Hux expected her to turn away—she wasn’t so fond of strangers—but then she bumped her head against Ben’s hand. Ben smiled.

_Anyway,_ Hux texted while Ben petted Millicent, _I’ll ask my father tonight if I can come to your house for dinner. This coming weekend?_

_Probably Saturday,_ Ben said. _I’ll tell Mom to set an extra place._

Hux asked, _Does she sign?_ He had learned that some parents of deaf children never really learned to sign well and found other ways to communicate. Hux found that exceptionally cold.

_Badly_ , Ben replied. _She took classes and stuff with me and Dad when I was a kid, but she missed half of them because of her job. Nowadays I text her._

_How does she talk at the dinner table?_ said Hux. Polite conversation was a hallmark of Hux family dinners.

_She signs about my day at school and stuff_ , Ben said, _but never like what my dad can do. He actually learned. But they’ll speak if you’re there._

Hux chewed his lower lip. _I don’t want to make you sit through that._

Ben shrugged. _It’s okay. It’s not like I don’t read lips all day at school. I’ve got yours down pat now._

_How?_ Hux asked. _We don’t talk much._

Ben glanced down, hiding his face by paying Millicent some attention. Hux waited as he typed his response.

_I see you talking in class or to Phasma_ , he admitted. _Like in English on Friday, you know?_

Hux tried to tamp down the thrill of pleasure at that, hoping he could keep the reaction from his face. He was better at concealing things than Ben was. He typed, _You watch me like that every day?_

The muscles in Ben’s throat worked as he swallowed, eyes still averted.

_It doesn’t bother me_ , Hux wrote to temper the blow. _I want you to be able to understand me._

Ben said, _I don’t mean to be weird._

_You’re not weird_ , said Hux. _Teach me the sign for “weird.”_

Ben formed a C with his right hand at the level of his face, almost framing it, and then moved his wrist so that the opening of the C faced downward. Hux mimicked him once before forming the phrase: **You’re not weird. I promise.**

Ben huffed, but seemed mollified.

They went through a few more signs, Hux using the new ones to form full phrases. He tried not to use too many of the new things he had learned in his class and give himself away. Fortunately, Ben didn’t seem to notice that he hadn’t been the one to teach Hux everything.

An hour passed, and then two. They went through all the snacks, though Ben didn’t drink his sparkling water. He paused to glance at his phone around five o’clock.

_I should get going_ , he said. _My uncle is coming over to make dinner while Mom’s downtown. My cousin will probably be there, too._

Hux signed: **Okay.** He texted, _I’m glad you came over. Let me see you out._

In the entryway, he handed Ben his jacket and his hat, both of which he pulled on. **See you tomorrow** , Ben signed as he stepped through the door.

**See you** , Hux signed back. He shut the door against the cold, but through the windows to the side of it, watched Ben walk down the sidewalk, his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

“What a nice boy,” Maratelle said from behind him, startling him.

Hux turned. “Yes.”

“Have him over whenever you like, dear,” she said.

He gladly said, “I think I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben mentions here that he reads lips at school, and that's certainly one way for him to learn, but in many public schools, an ASL interpreter will sign the lesson to any deaf students. He can also exchange notes with his classmates or have notes and lesson plans provided by the teachers. There are accommodations made for Ben that aren't necessarily addressed here explicitly, but should be acknowledged. He's meant to succeed as a student.
> 
> Illustrations for this chapter:  
> [Ben watches Hux in English class](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/173902216380/moonyspileoftrash-hux-didnt-need-to-read-the) by [moonyspileoftrash](http://moonyspileoftrash.tumblr.com/)  
> [Ben feeling Hux play the piano](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/173873086020/redelicebeta-thank-you-gefionne-koujaaku) by [Redelice](http://redelicebeta.tumblr.com/)  
> [Hux reciting Shakespeare while Ben looks fondly on](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/174471149090/nadiasna7-the-moment-from-the-third-allemande) by [nadiasna7](https://nadiasna7.tumblr.com/)


	4. Fourth Movement

To Hux’s surprise, Maratelle hadn’t said anything to Brendol that night at family dinner about Hux having a friend over, and Hux found he appreciated it. He wasn’t going to hide Ben from his father, but there was also something that told him Brendol wouldn’t be as welcoming of him as his stepmother was. It would come to introducing them eventually, Hux knew, but he wasn’t in a rush—and Ben would have to be prepared; dealing with Brendol Hux took finesse.

Ben hadn’t texted again that evening, but to Hux it wasn’t a bad sign. They didn’t always have to talk, especially if they were just going to see each other in school the next day. After dinner, he had played his usual concert for his parents and then retired upstairs to finish reading _Hyperion_ so he could return it. Ben had said something about a sequel and Hux was excited about that.

Today—Monday—it was brisk outside, but not yet cold enough to keep them from their usual table under the oak tree. Ben was already sitting there when Hux arrived, dropping his unremarkable lunch down on the top of the table.

 **Hello** , he signed. **How are you?**

 **Good** , Ben signed back. **Tired today. Didn’t sleep well.**

Hux raised his brows, head tipped to the side with curiosity. **Was something wrong?**

Ben toyed with his fruit salad, stabbing a grape, its taut flesh snapping under the tines of the plastic fork. **My parents had an argument.**

 **About what?** Hux asked.

 **Work** , Ben replied.

When he signed nothing else, Hux picked up his phone and typed: _Is there something the matter at their jobs?_

Ben retrieved his phone forlornly. _Mom’s having to travel in November when my last track meet is. Dad was pissed that she wouldn’t be able to come to even one this year._

 _Oh,_ Hux typed. _Are you upset too?_

He shrugged, but his headphones were still over his ears and his jacket collar was pulled up high on his neck, a kind of turtle-like camouflage. _I’m used to her not being around a lot. She’s usually downtown, or, like November, on an international trip._

 _Your father travels a lot for work, too, doesn’t he?_ Hux asked.

 _Yeah,_ said Ben, _but he’s only ever gone for a couple of days at a time, and he always texts when he gets places. We won’t hear from Mom for a week sometimes when she’s abroad._ He chewed his lower lip, eyes downcast. _She takes work really seriously. Maybe more seriously than she ever took being a mother. She didn’t mean to have me._

Hux resisted the urge to flinch. _She didn’t?_

_No. The pregnancy was an accident in Africa. They decided together to go through with it, though. Sometimes I think maybe they shouldn’t have._

**Don’t!** Hux signed frantically. He repeated the sign for emphasis.

Ben’s expression softened as he picked up his phone again. _Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply I wish I hadn’t been born. But they were pretty busy when I was growing up. I saw way more of my uncle than I did of either of them._

Hux said, _The uncle who teaches at Skywalker?_

Ben nodded. _They start kids there at five, but I was too young when Mom and Dad brought me here originally, so my uncle tutored me privately so I could actually communicate. It was a gradual loss of hearing, so I didn’t worry about it too much as a kid, but when I couldn’t hear what they were saying, I got frustrated and threw a lot of tantrums. It stressed Mom out especially. Dad learned to sign faster and better._

 _That must have been very hard for you,_ Hux said.

 _It was,_ said Ben, _but my uncle helped me through it. I would have been a really messed up, angry kid if I hadn’t had him around._

Hux had been, if anything, spoiled as a small child. His father’s only son, he had been doted upon and made to feel special from the time he was born to when he went away to his first boarding school. Even after he had gone away, he had always been the center of attention, receiving care packages from his mother and eventually from Maratelle. On his breaks, they had planned trips based on his studies and interests.

 _Did you ever wish you had a sibling?_ Hux asked. _I never really did. I had all the boys at school to keep me busy._

 _Not really,_ Ben replied. _I had the kids at school and also my cousin. She helped me learn to sign, too—from one small kid to another. It helped._

 _I’m glad you had her,_ Hux said. _Do you have a bunch of embarrassing childhood photos I can look at sometime?_

Ben frowned. _Spare yourself. Only someone I marry would be forced to go through that._

Hux laughed. _Fair enough. Maratelle’s not likely to brandish the albums, either. But I’d wager you were a sweet-looking little boy._

 **Fuck off** , Ben signed.

Hux replied, **I’m serious**.

Ben rolled his eyes and picked up his phone again. _Imagine gawky, badly dressed, and with a bowl cut and you’ve got it._

 _Who *isn’t* badly dressed when they’re a little child?_ Hux teased. _It was the early 2000s. Atrocious fashion._

 _You mean you wore something else other than the kinds of sweaters you wear now?_ Ben said, one brow twitching up. _Your wardrobe consists of lightweight sweaters in every color and the occasional button-up. You have a navy sweater vest and a gray one, you old man._

It was Hux’s turn to sign **Fuck off**. Ben laughed aloud, a sound he was much freer with these days.

 _At least it’s better than jeans with holes in them, beat-up Vans, and old t-shirts,_ Hux said. _Do you even *own* a pair of trousers that aren’t denim?_

 _*Trousers*_ Ben mocked. _You can call them “pants.”_

 _Those are undergarments where I come from,_ Hux fired back. _When I first heard it here, I thought someone was having a laugh at my expense. There was no way he could see my pants._

Ben leaned forward, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. _What color were they?_

Hux pressed his lips together, trying to find a way to play it so it wouldn’t be obvious that he was very intrigued by Ben Solo inquiring as to the color of his undergarments.

 _Blue,_ he replied. _I might be wearing the same ones today. Are you going to ask to see next?_ Not well-played, Armitage.

 _Are you going to say yes if I do?_ Ben asked.

Hux could feel the heat in his face. He had to put a stop to this before he dug himself into a deeper hole because the answer, frankly, was yes; he would show Ben anything he wanted to see.

 _Not in the middle of the quad, if you please,_ Hux said.

Ben continued to look hard at him. _Somewhere else, then?_

Before Hux was forced to come up with something to say, Phasma came striding up to their table and slapped the flats of her hands down onto it.

“Hey,” she said, looking between them. “How’s the lunch period treating you?”

There was a line of concern between Ben’s brows, but he didn’t look upset. Hux was wondering what in the world could have made her want to approach them now and make inane smalltalk.

“Is there something I can do for you?” he asked cagily.

She flashed him her teeth. “Just saying hello.” To Ben, slowly, “You’re keeping Hux all to yourself.”

Ben’s expression stayed much the same and he said aloud, “I don’t keep him anywhere. He goes where he wants.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure he does,” said Phasma, a wily smile still on her face. “And he wants to be here with you, doesn’t he?”

“I do, yes,” Hux snapped. “What do you want, Phasma?”

She put her hip up on the table, mostly facing Ben, with her back to Hux. “Just wondering if you two had decided about whether you were coming to the homecoming football game yet.”

Ben’s gaze cut to Hux, and Hux signed: **I was going to ask**.

“It’s a big tradition Hux should see, don’t you think, Ben?” Phasma continued.

“Yeah, I guess,” Ben said. To Hux: **Do you want to go?**

Hux admitted, after he had thought about it these past few days, **Yes. Will you come with me?**

If Phasma was bothered by their conversation around her, she didn’t show it. She sat placidly between them, seemingly waiting for whatever conclusion they came to.

Ben was hesitant in his reply, rubbing his hands together. Finally, he signed: **I’ll go with you**.

Hux smiled, relieved. **Thank you** , he signed.

“We’ll go,” Ben said, beating Hux to the punch. “You want us to come with you and your friends?” His tone was flat, but there was a hint of suspicion in his face.

“Just Finn, really,” said Phasma. “Oh, and Rey.”

Ben nodded. “Okay.”

“Great!” Phasma exclaimed, hopping down from the table and clapping her hands. “We’re meeting up at the field at five o’clock on the twentieth. Finn’s gonna be there early with Poe, so he’ll stake out a spot for us. Wear some blue and bring a blanket.” With a last look at both of them, she headed off.

Hux dropped his head into his hands, sighing. The timing of his asking Ben to come along with him had been far from perfect and he was sorry for it. It wasn’t something he had intended to do without choosing his words wisely—maybe learning the signs for it. The vibrating of his phone made him open his eyes to look down at it where it lay on the table between his elbows.

 _When were you going to tell me you wanted me to come to the game with you?_ Ben had written.

Hux hesitantly replied, _It’s almost two weeks away. I wasn’t in a hurry._ He paused, but added, _And I thought you’d say no._

 _Why?_ Ben asked.

Warily, Hux glanced up to meet his eyes. _They said you’d never gone before._

Ben typed back, _No, but I never had anyone to go with. You don’t show up at the homecoming game with your parents or something. It’s always with your friends from school._

 _I didn’t know that,_ Hux said. _I’m sorry I didn’t ask sooner._

 _There’s nothing to apologize for,_ said Ben. _I’m actually really glad you invited me._

Hux offered a smile, writing, _And what about the dance after? Do you want to go to that, too?_

Ben signed: **With you?**

 **Friends** , Hux signed.

Ben shook his head. **I don’t dance.**

Hux didn’t know the appropriate signs, so he took his phone up again. _I understand that. I wasn’t so keen on going, either. Perhaps we can do something after instead? Go see a movie, maybe._

 _I’d like that,_ said Ben.

The bell ending the period rang, and they gathered up their trays and headed back to the building. As they dropped them off, Ben signed casually: **See you in English class**. Hux waved and turned down the hall toward the chemistry lab.

He found Phasma sitting at their bench looking utterly pleased with herself. “So,” she said, “looks like I got you a date for the big game.”

Hux scowled at her. “You put me on the spot. You’re lucky he wasn’t upset with me.”

“With the way Ben Solo looks at you, I’m pretty sure you couldn’t do anything to ‘upset’ him.” She looked down at her chrome manicured nails, completely nonchalant. “Rey says he’s been chipper as a chipmunk for the past few weeks. And there’s no way in hell I ever could have gotten him to talk to me today had you not been there.”

“He wouldn’t have needed to speak if you hadn’t accosted us,” Hux grumbled. “But, yes, he’s less shy than he used to be. I like to think that’s partly because of me.”

Phasma said, “Oh, it definitely is.” She leaned in closer, lowering her voice and emphasizing the remnants of her English accent, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he fancies you.”

“ _Don’t_ ,” Hux warned. “I don’t need that rumor on top of what’s already being said about us.”

She wet her lips, eyeing him. “Would you have a problem if he did?”

Hux wanted to lie; he wanted to put an end to this line of thinking right now. But he couldn’t. There was a small flicker of hope in his chest that maybe she was right.

“I wouldn’t mind,” he said quietly.

Phasma laid a hand on his shoulder. “That’s good.” She handed him the steps to that afternoon’s experiment and nothing more was said about it.

 

****

 

Finn was in Hux’s second period history class, and word had gotten to him by the next day that Hux and Ben would be joining him and Phasma for the homecoming football game. Finn had won his bid for student council president and he still had the newly minted look about him. Hux was just sitting down at his assigned seat in the middle of the room when Finn came over to him, grinning his trademark white-toothed grin.

“Hey, Hux,” he said. “How’s it going?”

 Hux set down his green maths folder, pulling a mechanical pencil from his pencil pouch. “Fine, thank you,” he said. “How’re you?”

“Good, good. I hear you’re coming to the football game with me and Phasma.” He cracked his knuckles; it sounded painful. “And you’re bringing Ben.”

“Yes,” said Hux. “It seemed like it would be fun, and neither of us have been before. We’re skipping the dance, though.”

Finn gave him a disappointed look. “Really? It’s always fun. There’s a crowning of a homecoming king and queen and everything.” He winked. “Or a king and king.”

Hux smiled. “I saw that you and Poe are nominated. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Finn said. “We didn’t expect it.”

“Really?” Hux asked with a brow raised in skeptical disbelief.

Finn glanced away, duly abashed. “Okay, maybe it wasn’t that much of a surprise, but still. It’s a nice honor. Poe is pretty excited.”

Hux nodded. “I can imagine.” He glanced at the clock and saw that they had a few minutes before the class started. “May I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Finn said. “What’s up?”

“How did you two end up together?”

Finn brightened, pulling over a desk to lean on. “Well, we’ve kind of always been. We met freshman year when I transferred here. We were in earth science together—lab partners. Pretty cliché, isn’t it?” He shook his head, though with fondness at the memories. “Anyway, I thought he was the best looking guy I’d ever seen, and you know how charming he can be. I didn’t think I had a shot since he was on the junior varsity football team and everyone already knew him from middle school, but somehow he was interested in me.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, giving a little sigh of happiness. “It was a little awkward at first because I didn’t know if he liked guys or not, especially since that’s a touchy subject in football circles, but the way he acted...well, it was clear he was flirting.” Finn chuckled. “He’s not very subtle about it.”

From what Hux knew of Poe Dameron, he wasn’t very subtle about anything.

“I’m not quite as good at it as he is,” said Finn, “so I was pretty bumbling about it. He was the first guy I actually wanted to go out with. Anyway, it wasn’t until around October when he asked me over to his house the first time. Just to hang out. But...it wasn’t really for that. He was pretty upfront when I got there.

“He took my hand and kissed it. You know, like in the movies. I was a shaking mess, but he was so sure about it. I never could have held it together if he hadn’t been calm.” He was smiling again. “We sat down and had a talk about it. Neither of us were out at the time, so we decided to keep it quiet. We’d just be friends for the most part, not do anything...uh, untoward.”

“I admire your restraint,” said Hux.

Finn said, “Oh, it didn’t last much more than a few weeks. But we were pretty good at keeping things under wraps at school and with our parents.”

Hux was glad he had never had to contend with that when he was first discovering his own predilections. He just had to manage himself and learn how to approach someone else properly.

“You came out the next year?” he asked.

Finn nodded. “Yep. We were tired of sneaking around and we weren’t that scared of the backlash. This is a pretty liberal school. There were a few issues, but Poe dealt with them like a pro. And after that a few others—girls and boys—came out to us. They said they admired us for taking the risk to be together.”

“It’s very admirable indeed,” Hux said. “Brave.”

“Thanks,” said Finn. “We’re glad we did it. Not having to hide who you are and who you want to be with is pretty amazing.” He blinked thoughtfully at Hux. “Is this something that hits close to home with you?”

Hux swallowed, unsure how to proceed. He hadn’t lied to Phasma, and if other students had trusted Finn and Poe with their own confessions, he wasn’t so afraid to do the same.

“It’s relevant,” he said, quiet.

“That’s okay,” Finn said. “Don’t be afraid of things here. Nobody’s going to get on your case about it...if you want to be open about things. No pressure if you don’t, though. I’m not going to say anything to anyone.”

Sincerely, Hux said, “Thank you. I’d rather not spread it around for now.”

Finn made the shape of a cross over his heart. “It’s safe with me. I know how private this can be. If you ever need anyone to talk to, though, you can talk to me. And seriously, Endor Cross is a good place.”

“I’m getting that impression,” Hux said.

“So you like it here?” Finn asked.

“I do,” Hux replied. “I didn’t quite expect to, I admit, but I do. Everyone’s been kind to me since I arrived.”

Finn looked pleased, as if he was proud of all the students he represented in the council. “And you’ve got a really good friend in Ben. I’ve never seen him like he is with you.” He pursed his lips. “I tried to get to know him freshman year, but he didn’t really take to me. He didn’t take to anybody.”

“So I’ve been told,” Hux said.

“But that’s old news,” said Finn. “He’s like a new person nowadays. It’s pretty amazing.”

Hux warmed with a strange kind of pride: both in himself for managing to reach Ben and in Ben for finally coming out of his self-imposed exile.

“I’m fond of him,” Hux said.

There was Finn’s smile again. “Yeah? That’s good. You two are good together.”

Hux glanced down. “It’s not like that.”

Finn shrugged. “Maybe not, but don’t write him off. I’ve never seen him look at anybody the way he looks at you.”

“Were you paying that close of attention?” Hux said.

“You don’t need to look hard, Hux,” said Finn. “He’s got stars in his eyes.”

The bell sounded and Finn left him to go to his own desk. Hux fiddled with his pencil as the teacher called the class to order. He saw Ben’s happiness, too, but there was a lot to lose if Finn was wrong about his interest. Flirting like Poe wasn’t his wheelhouse; he was too direct. Maybe there was a way to carefully find out if Ben’s affection was more than friendly, but Hux wasn’t sure what that way was.

   

****

 

“We’re going to work in pairs and have a conversation,” Luke was saying on Thursday evening during Hux’s ASL class at Skywalker School for the Deaf. “Since we have an uneven number, Hux, you’ll be paired with me.”

At his desk at the front of the room, Hux balked. Luke usually stood by and watched the students sign to each other in their rudimentary exchanges—though their lessons were growing more complex as they got the hang of the basic signs—rather than participating. However, Hux was glad to get the chance to watch him sign more; he had a fluid, beautiful way of using his hands to form the phrases that reminded him very much of Ben’s.

Once or twice over the past few weeks, Hux had been distracted by the movements of Ben’s broad palms and long, dexterous fingers and had lost track of the signs in the process. He had been forced to ask Ben to repeat himself, which Ben sometimes had the patience for and sometimes did not; he wasn’t as level-headed a teacher as Luke was. Still, Hux was glad for what he learned from him; it made him better prepared for class, something that Luke and Rey didn’t overlook.

As the pairs formed up, Hux scooted his chair back and made his way to the front of the room, where Luke was standing. Luke greeted him with the sign for **Good evening**.

 **Hello** , Hux replied. He expected a basic exchange of platitudes, but Luke surprised him by signing something altogether different.

 **You are doing very well in class** , he began. **Do you plan to take the next level in the next session?**

Hux had to guess at the last few words, but his reply assured him that he had understood them correctly. **Yes** , he signed. **I want to learn a lot. Everything.**

 **For your friend** , Luke signed.

Hux replied, **Yes**.

Luke’s next signs were too fast and too many for Hux to decipher, so he signed, **I’m sorry. I don’t understand.**

Like Ben often did, Luke broke the signs down, speaking as he showed Hux each one. **He’s very lucky to have a friend like you. What’s his name?**

 **Ben** , Hux spelled out.

A flicker of something unidentifiable passed across Luke face, but then his expression was as warm as ever. **Let’s continue with the material** , he signed.

They held a polite conversation, Hux telling him that he was a junior in high school and that he enjoyed music as a hobby. He was sixteen years old and had no brothers or sisters. In return Luke told him that he had a daughter, Rey, and that his wife had died several years ago. Hux didn’t know the appropriate signs for offering condolences, so he simply signed: **I’m sorry**.

 **Don’t be** **sorry** , Luke signed. **She had a full life with Rey and me.**

Moving on from there, he asked Hux about school and which subjects he liked best. Hux said English, which was mostly true. He preferred it over maths and history.

 **My friend likes to read** , Hux told Luke. **He gives me books.**

 **What kinds of books?** Luke asked.

Hux didn’t know how to reply, so he signed: **All kinds.**

Luke smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. **Do you read them together?**

 **No** , said Hux, **but that’s a good idea. I’ll ask him.**

It sounded nice to read a book with Ben and then talk about it. Hux liked telling him about the parts he liked in _Fall of Hyperion_ , which he had been given on Monday.

 **We’re done now** , Luke concluded. **Good job tonight.**

 **Thank you** , Hux signed before returning to his seat.

Luke brought his hands together to end the individual conversations and have the students come back together again. “Well done,” he said aloud. “You are all progressing very well. By the end of the course in December, you’ll be very proficient in the foundational signs of ASL.” He gestured to Hux. “Some of you already intend to take the next course, but I encourage all of you to do so. You open yourself up to a whole new community if you learn to sign. That’s all for tonight. See you on Tuesday.”

Hux gathered his books, walking out with Arianne.

“You’re the star of the class,” she said to him as they stepped out into the chilly night air. She had a knitted scarf around her neck and leather gloves over her fingers.

“I’m trying my best,” Hux said. “This matters a great deal to me.”

She smiled crookedly. “I can tell. It matters to me, too. I wish I had your knack for it. I think I might have to take this beginner’s course over again rather than move up.”

Hux looked at her as he unlocked his bicycle from the rack. “You think so? Maybe we can work together on it sometime. Like a study group.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, her face lighting up. “Really? You have the time for that?”

He wasn’t sure that he actually did, but he would find it if it would help her. He considered for a moment asking Ben to join them, but it would necessitate telling him about the class, and he wasn’t quite ready to do that yet.

“Why don’t we plan to meet on Sunday afternoon?” he said to her. “Is there a coffee shop around perhaps?” He hadn’t actually explored much of “downtown” Endor Cross, but a coffee shop seemed the most practical place to meet.

“Yes indeed,” Arianne said. “The Daily Grind on Main Street.” She grabbed his hands. “I’m so grateful for this, Hux, really.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he said, squeezing her fingers. “Sunday at, say, one o’clock?”

“That’s perfect.” Releasing him, she backed away a step. “I’ll see you then! Have a good night!”

Hux moved his bicycle away from the rack as she disappeared around the corner. Before he got going, though, he stopped to pull his phone out of his pocket. There, as expected, was a text from Ben.

 _I think I’m dying,_ he wrote. _This geometry homework is going to murder me. Can I please somehow get you to help me with these problems?_

Every class was assigned different problems to keep them from copying each other’s homework, but Hux had a fairly good handle on his own assignment; he could probably help Ben with his.

 _I’m out,_ he replied, _but I’ll be home in fifteen minutes. Doing this over text is going to be next to impossible, though. Do you have Skype?_

They wouldn’t be talking over the line, but they could maybe sign a few things and they could easily type. If Ben had to, he could show Hux his work on his paper so Hux could see it and look for mistakes.

 _Yeah,_ Ben replied. _ben.solo@gmail.com. Just add me and call when you’re home._

Hux told him he would and hopped onto his bicycle to hurry home. When he got there, he waved at Maratelle and Brendol in the living room, giving them the excuse that he had to finish his homework instead of playing a piece for them before they all went to bed. He sprinted up the stairs and locked himself in his room, booting up his laptop and launching Skype. He added Ben’s email to his contacts and then pressed the call button. Ben picked up on the second ring.

 **Hello** , he signed.

Hux signed back before starting to type. _Let’s get down to it, then. What problems did she give you?_

 _The even numbers,_ Ben replied. _I think I’ve got the first two, but they get harder the higher you go. I’m at a loss for the third one._

Hux opened his geometry book and read over the problem. It wasn’t overly complex, but it wasn’t simple, either. He grabbed a piece of scrap paper and began to work it out. When he had the first few steps he started to explain them to Ben. They worked their way through the the problem until they had the same solution.

 _I hate this so much,_ Ben wrote sullenly.

 _You know, Phasma offered to sit down and give us some pointers,_ Hux said. _I forgot to tell you._

Over the video connection, Ben looked curious. _Really? She always gets a hundred on every test. She’s some kind of genius, I swear. Do you think she’d still be up for it? If I fail this class, my mom’s gonna kill me._

 Hux asked, _You’re not that close to failing are you?_

 _No,_ Ben typed, _but I’ve got a 70 if I’m lucky. I’d kill for an 80._

 _I’ll ask her, then,_ Hux said. He grabbed his phone and began to type a text message: _After that stunt you pulled on Monday, you owe me. Ben needs help with maths. Your offer to help him still on the table?_

Ben watched expectantly while Hux started working on the next problem. After about four minutes, his phone vibrated.

Phasma wrote, _Sure, no problem. When?_

Hux asked the same question of Ben and he replied, _Sunday sometime?_ Hux relayed the message.

 _I’m open on Sunday morning,_ Phasma said.

That worked out well enough, if Hux’s appointment with Arianne to study was in the afternoon. _How about 10:00?_

_Fine by me. You coming, too? He’d probably be happier if you were there. And I’d be better off, too. Please come._

_All right,_ Hux typed. _I’ll be there. The Daily Grind?_ His father wouldn’t be pleased at him missing some of his practice time, but he could manage more at some point. He told Ben all the details: the location, the time, and that he would be attending. Ben looked relieved.

 _Thanks, Hux,_ he wrote. _Anyway, what about the fourth problem?_

They got through the rest of Ben’s homework to the best of their joint ability, and by the end, Hux was yawning and ready for bed. Ben closed up his folders and smiled at Hux through the video feed.

 _Thanks again,_ he typed. _I guess I’ll see you and Phasma tomorrow._

Hux said, _That’s right. Hopefully you won’t get tired of me for all the time we’re spending together outside of school right now._

Ben’s brows drew together as he focused on his keyboard. _I don’t ever get tired of you. If anything, I’d figure you’d get tired of *me*._

 _No,_ Hux wrote. _Never._

They regarded each other through their screens for a few seconds, neither typing nor signing. Hux could feel the vibration of tension between them despite the distance. Ben was so intent, so open, that Hux was short of breath. His wanting him was only getting worse, he realized, and soon enough it was going to be unbearable.

 _I should go to bed,_ Ben typed. _I’ll see you tomorrow._

Hux signed **Goodnight** and ended the call. Falling back against his chair, he tried to get ahold of himself. In the reflection of his dark computer screen he watched himself sign: **I like you, Ben.**

 

****

 

On Saturday night, Hux stood across from his closet in only his navy blue boxer briefs, furiously texting after an unsuccessful few minutes of trying to decide what to wear to Ben’s house for dinner.

 _S.O.S._ he wrote. _I’m at a complete loss. Do I need a button-up and tie for this, or should I wear a jacket?_

He stared at the rows of shirts and trousers where they hung in the closet and then to the open dresser drawer, where his jumpers were neatly folded. He tapped his foot restlessly as he waited for Ben to reply. When his phone vibrated, he scrabbled the unlock it with his thumbprint.

 _A *tie*?!_ Ben had texted. _A *jacket*?! No. Do not wear either of those things. Just wear the stuff you’d wear to school. It’s only dinner._

 _Some dinners require formal attire_ , Hux sent back.

 _Not this one, okay?_ said Ben. _Mom’s probably making tacos. Chicken and broccoli casserole. I don’t know, but it’s not fancy._ He continued to type, the ellipsis bubble floating under his last message. _Have you been trying on outfits for the past hour or something?_

Hux grumbled aloud, “Not for an hour, you ass,” but he typed, _Just had trouble deciding between a few things. Thank you for your help._

Ben replied, _Just promise you won’t show up in a jacket and tie. Not that you couldn’t pull off that look—you could—it’s just not necessary for Saturday at the Solos’._

 _All right,_ Hux wrote. _I’ll see you in a half hour._

He chose a pair of charcoal gray trousers and a heather violet button-up jumper to wear over a white t-shirt. He set his hair to rights, though he knew it would just be blown around as he rode his bicycle across town to Ben’s house. Pulling on his black shoes, he headed downstairs.

Maratelle was in the kitchen with her earbuds in listening to whatever podcast she was on this week, so he didn’t bother her. Instead he went to find Brendol, who was in the living room with a glass of brandy and a sour expression as he watched something on television at a low volume.

“Da,” Hux said from his place at the threshold, “I’m leaving now. I should be back around eight-thirty.” He had wanted to campaign for a later curfew, but bicycling around town after nine o’clock wasn’t a particularly good idea, even in Endor Cross.

“Very good,” Brendol rumbled. “Be on your best behavior.”

Hux resisted the urge to roll his eyes—as if he would be an embarrassment after years of etiquette tutoring at Arkanis. “I will do, Da. Have a good evening.” He grabbed his peacoat from the rack in the entryway and pulled it on along with his gloves. His bicycle was waiting by the side gate of the house.

He had studied the Google Maps directions to Ben’s house until he had them memorized. Fortunately, there weren’t too many ways to get lost in their small town, but he didn’t want to be late. Ben had said that dinner was around six o’clock, but that Hux could come over a few minutes before so Ben could introduce him. Hux had already met Han Solo, Ben’s father, at the track meet, but he had not yet met Ben’s mother, whose name, he had been told, was Leia Organa; she hadn’t taken her husband’s surname when they’d married.

Hux rode down Lansler Avenue to Pine Street, left onto Main to ride past the movie theater, and then on to Cheshire Place. It took just over twenty minutes to get to Ben’s street, which was a cul-de-sac marked Alderaan Drive. The house was a saltbox colonial painted blue-gray, and there was a tarp-covered car in the driveway—looked to be something classic rather than sporty. Hux pulled up next to it and dismounted, putting the kickstand of his bicycle down and standing it by the front walk. He ran his hands over his hair before going up to the door and ringing the bell. He waited for a few tense seconds, but then the door opened and a small woman in a cream-colored pants suit stood across from him.

“You must be Hux,” she said in a low alto voice, her bright, intelligent eyes crinkling at the corners like Ben’s did when he smiled. “Welcome. Come in, come in.”

He stepped through into the warm interior hallway, seeing a staircase a few paces away and a dining room just off to the left.

“Give me your coat, dear,” Leia Organa said, holding out her small hands. “Was it a long ride over? Ben says you live a ways away.”

“Only a few miles,” Hux said as he shucked his peacoat and handed it over. He tucked his gloves into the pockets. “Thank you for having me tonight.”

She grinned. “Of course. We were so excited when Ben said he wanted to bring someone over. Usually only his cousin comes around these days. She’s a good girl and all, but it’s time Ben had someone from school—”

Ben’s emphatic “ _Mom_ ” cut her off. He was at the foot of the stairs, clearly having been watching what Leia was saying to Hux. As he caught Hux’s eye, Hux signed: **Hello**.

 **Hello** , Ben signed back. Looking between him and Leia, he continued, **You don’t have to tell him everything at once, Mom.**

She took a step back from Hux, signing: **I’m happy he’s here.** To Hux: **Would you like something to drink?**

He replied, **Yes. Thank you.**

 **I’ll get it** _,_ Ben said, dodging past his mother to grab Hux’s wrist and pull him down the hallway toward what Hux assumed was the kitchen.

There were a few pots and pans on the stove, but it was whatever was in the oven that smelled good. Hux barely got a glance at it before Ben tugged him in front of the refrigerator. He pointed to the cans of soda on a rack inside, grabbing one himself. Hux signed, **May I have water?**

Ben nodded and shut the refrigerator door. He pulled a square glass from the cabinet and showed Hux how to fill it from the dispenser. Hux declined the offer of ice. Instead of saying or signing anything, Ben just took Hux’s wrist again and led him into the dining room, where a table for eight was set for four with plain, utilitarian china. The adults’ places had wine glasses. Ben took the seat nearest the head, leaving Hux to take the one next to him.

Ben set his soda down on a coaster and signed: **Did you get lost?**

Hux shook his head no. **It was easy.**

 **Good** , Ben signed, and then opened his soda and took a sip.

“Hey, Hux!” Han Solo boomed, appearing in the doorway from the hall. His turtleneck jumper had holes near the hem and his hair was sticking up at odd angles, but he was grinning from ear to ear, genuinely pleased to see Hux. “How’s it going, kid?”

Hux rose and offered his hand, which Han shook enthusiastically. “Very well, Mr. Solo, thank you.”

“It’s ‘Han,’” he said, “please.” When he released Hux, he turned to Ben and immediately began to sign far faster than Hux could follow. Ben signed back, but slower. Hux recognized what he was signing: **Not so fast, Dad. Hux can’t understand when you go so fast.**

Han did as he was bid, addressing Hux: **Sorry. Ben told us you were coming here to practice your ASL. How’s it going?**

 **I think it’s good** , Hux signed. **I’m learning a lot.**

 **You’re great at it** , Han said. **Come sit down and show me what you can do.**

They took their places again, this time with Han across from Ben. He opened the nearby bottle of wine with a _pop_ and poured himself a glass of the red.

 **Where are you from, Hux?** he asked to get things started.

 **England,** Hux replied. He spelled out **Surrey**.

 **Sounds like a nice place** , Han signed back. **How long have you been in town?**

Hux signed: **Three months.**

Han continued, **Do you like it?**

 **I do** , Hux replied, in earnest.

Han took a sip of his wine before setting it down again and signing at Ben: **Good job, kid. He’s a quick learner.**

Hux hid his face in his glass, but enjoyed the flush of pride. He was doing everything he could to learn as quickly as possible.

“Okay, everyone,” Leia said, bustling in from the kitchen with a casserole dish in her oven mitt-covered hands. “Han, hand me that trivet, will you? Thank you, dear. Let me just get the salad.”

“Do you want help?” Han asked.

Leia was already through to the kitchen again and called, “No! Just sit.”

Turning back to Ben and Hux, Han signed: **She will have us wash up.**

When they were all seated at the table, Ben wordlessly handed Leia his plate and she filled it with whatever casserole she had made. It looked creamy and definitely had broccoli in it. Hux supplied his plate next, and then Han got his portion. The salad and warm bread made the rounds in record time, and it was done in complete silence. Hux sat still after he had filled his plate, watching for cues.

 **You can eat,** Ben signed to him. **It’s not** —Hux guessed at the sign— **poison**.

Hux picked up his fork and knife and started in on the casserole. Despite the unfamiliar consistency and ingredients, it was good. The quiet, however, was stark and unusual. Conversation was the centerpiece of a Hux family dinner; the eating came second. Seemingly sensing Hux’s discomfort, Leia set down her utensils. She met his eyes to make sure he was watching her before she began to sign to him.

 **How is your dinner?** she asked. **Do you like it?**

 **Yes** , he replied. **It’s very good.**

She smiled at him. **I’m not a great cook, but I try to make something decent every now and then.**

Han stifled a laugh in his wineglass, and she shot him an admonishing look.

Ben smirked at both of them, signing: **This is the only thing you can make, Mom.**

 **Don’t tell Hux that** , she signed.

Hux wasn’t sure of the sign she used next, but Ben caught his uncomprehending look and signed it again at him. “Traitor,” he said aloud.

They all laughed and Leia offered Hux another piece of bread. She and her husband and her son bolted down their food, Hux saw; he was only halfway through his own by the time they were finished. Again, they had fallen silent, just eating and exchanging the occasional sign. Hux supposed that they didn’t linger around the table when they couldn’t talk between bites. Maybe Han and Leia could have, but it was clear that they didn’t want to leave Ben out of the conversation. That, at least, Hux could respect.

When it became clear that they were interested in getting up, Hux pushed his plate away, leaving the last of the food.

Han finished off his wine and signed **Thank you for dinner** to Leia.

She came back with: **You clean up.**

Following that instruction, Hux went to gather plates, but Leia stopped him.

“Not you, dear,” she said. “Let Han get it. You and Ben go on upstairs. Or watch some TV. Whatever you’d like to do.”

“Thank you,” Hux said. “For dinner.” For good measure, he signed his thanks, too.

Ben signed **We’re going to my room** and gestured for Hux to follow him. The stairs were creaky and narrow, but covered in a thick carpet runner. Ben’s room was at the far end of the hall, his door standing open just a crack.

The first things Hux saw when he went inside were the bookshelves. There were three separate cases: two against the far wall on either side of the window and one next to the small desk where Ben’s laptop was lying. All of them were stuffed full of books and there were even paperbacks on the desk and bedside table. The bed itself was a twin that looked as if it wouldn’t accommodate Ben’s size much longer. However, when Ben flopped back onto it, it seemed to fit him well enough. He grabbed one of the pillows and threw it against the wall, patting the space next to him.

 **Sit** , he signed.

Hux pulled off his shoes—Ben wasn’t wearing any—and crept up onto the mattress to sit beside him. He crossed his legs, his knee just touching Ben’s. Ben grabbed his phone and began to text. Hux’s was already buzzing by the time he got it out of his pocket.

 _Well, that wasn’t too awkward, I guess_ , Ben had written.

 _Not at all_ , Hux replied. _Your parents are nice._

 _They’re all right. It hard to get them to sit down together much these days_. He shifted his seat so that his shoulder bumped Hux’s. _They think you’re really good at ASL now, though. Nobody else from school would ever be able to do as much as you can._

Hux didn’t go to move away from where Ben’s arm touched his. He was wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows.

Ben sent another message: _Did it help at all to sign with someone other than me? There are variations people use. And everyone’s hands are different._

Hux had already decided he liked watching Ben’s hands the most. He wrote, _Yes, it was nice. I still have a lot to learn. I wish we didn’t have to text._

Setting down his phone, Ben moved so Hux could see him better and signed something Hux wasn’t familiar with. He broke it down into the constituent parts, explaining, “It takes years. You’re doing so good, though. Nobody else has ever done anything like this for me.” He signed: **Thank you.** His gratitude was so plain that it struck Hux right at the center of his chest.

 **I want to be good at it** , Hux signed. **I want to be good for you.** He wasn’t sure that actually made sense as he had signed it, and he tried not to wince when he saw Ben’s cheeks start to pinken. Oh God, what had he said wrong?

Fumbling for his phone, he clarified, _I want to be good so I can sign to you. For you._ He wasn’t doing any of this right, suddenly all thumbs and not able to communicate in any of the three ways they could: speech, sign, or text. He attempted to slow down, typing, _What I mean is, signing with you is something I really enjoy. Talking to you at all is._

Ben read the message and looked up at him again. He was still flushed, and he was worrying his lowering lip with his teeth.

 **Is something wrong?** Hux signed.

Ben shook his head. **It’s fine. What to learn some more signs?**

When Hux nodded, he launched into a series of gestures, none of which Hux knew. Fortunately, Ben began to break them down. The strange tension that had cropped up between them for a few minutes faded as Hux practiced the signs, and he relaxed again.

 _Why would I need to learn the sign for rabbi at this juncture?_ Hux asked after Ben had demonstrated.

 **Because it’s funny** , Ben replied. **Just do it.**

Hux obeyed, mimicking his gesture. Ben grinned and, rubbing his chin in affected contemplation, began plotting his next lesson. Hux was nearing the threshold of how much he could learn in one session, but he didn’t deter Ben from showing him the last few things. He botched the positions of his fingers, though, forcing Ben to take hold of his hands and put them into the correct shapes for each of the signs.

Hux gave over to him, feeling the softness of his skin as he positioned each of Hux’s hands. Ben had touched him a great deal tonight, from taking his wrist to lead him around the house to this, now. Despite the fact that they used their hands to communicate a great deal, contact was much more rare. Hux felt a jolt of awareness of their proximity as Ben continued to manipulate his fingers. He had already finished the signs, Hux was sure, but he wasn’t letting go of him yet.

Turning his attention from their hands, Hux glanced up to Ben’s face and caught his eye. Ben’s hands stilled—Hux’s still in them—and he blinked, once, before pulling back. He looked down and away from Hux. Something _was_ wrong, even if he wouldn’t say it. Reaching out, Hux laid a hand on his knee.

Ben’s eyes turned up for a moment, but then he turned away. There was a tinge of pink in his cheeks again, and Hux wanted to touch his face and feel the warmth there.

Hux tapped him on the shoulder and, when he turned, signed: **Show me another sign?**

Ben blinked once, slowly, and then, raised his hands. He brought both, the fingers close together and touching at the tips, to his mouth and pursed his lips. Hux realized after a moment that he knew that one, but he hadn’t expected to see it, not from Ben. It meant “kiss.”

Ben was good enough at reading him that he could tell Hux recognized the sign. He was perfectly still, barely breathing, and watching Hux raptly. Hux’s heart was hammering as he tried to understand Ben’s intentions, but hope burned in him. He wanted this, he really did. If Ben wanted it too… Fighting to keep his hands steady, Hux raised his right, pointing at Ben. He mimicked Ben’s sign and then pointed to himself.

**You kiss me.**

Ben’s reaction was instantaneous: his eyes lit up and his flush deepened. He nodded twice in quick succession. Tendrils of excited desire curled in Hux’s belly as Ben started to lean in. Hux saw the hesitancy, even the fear, so he moved, too, until their mouths were pressed together and Hux could feel the soft fullness of Ben’s lips against his.

Hux hadn’t been so overwhelmed by a kiss this chaste since his first, but here, now, he was struggling to keep track of his thoughts beyond the immediate, demanding refrain of _Ben, Ben, Ben_. They were doing little more than brushing lips, but the scant contact had Hux addled. Without giving himself even a moment to stop and consider it, he took Ben’s face between his palms and pressed closer.

They kissed, close-lipped, for a minute, maybe two, before Hux pulled back to see if everything was all right. Ben had barely moved. As he drew away, he saw that Ben was so flushed that now the tips of his ears were red, and his eyelids were heavy, lips parted just so.

They were too close to sign, so Hux said, carefully, “Is this okay?”

Ben nodded, leaning into Hux’s hand where it still rested against his cheek. Hux rubbed his thumb along the bone as he moved in to kiss him again. This time Hux caught his lips still parted and could feel a puff of hot breath. Hungry to taste him, Hux tongued his lower lip until he opened further. Lightly, Hux brushed his tongue against Ben’s. The sound Ben made startled both of them, Ben from having felt himself make it and Hux from hearing it. They parted, catching their breath. When Hux gave a small smile, Ben returned it full force.

 **I’ve wanted to do that forever** , Ben signed. **I like you so much**.

Hux’s hands shook a bit as he signed back: **I like you, too.**

Ben’s sigh was audible, the smile still touching the corners of his mouth. He picked up his phone. _God, I’m so relieved,_ he wrote. _I didn’t think I could go much longer without saying something. I was scared._

Hux replied, _You’re braver than I was. You asked me for a kiss._

 _No, *you* did that. I just put the idea in your head_. He rubbed his face as if trying to wake himself up. When he looked back up at Hux, he was awed. _But you did that. You asked me to kiss you._

 _Do you want me to ask again?_ Hux teased, letting his expression convey the tone.

Ben beamed, and he signed **Yes**.

They didn’t come up for air for a while, their hands on each other as they kissed. Ben was timid at first, but as soon as he caught his stride, he was _very_ enthusiastic. His mouth was soft and hot, and Hux was losing himself in his taste and his touch.

When, finally, they broke, Ben texted: _Am I am okay kisser?_

Amused and tucked into the crook of Ben’s arm, Hux replied, _Yes. Why do you ask?_

 _Because I’ve never kissed anyone before_ , Ben replied. He leaned his head against Hux’s, ever-so-slightly nuzzling his ear.

Hux wasn’t altogether that surprised, but he wrote, _No? Nobody?_

Ben squeezed Hux tighter as he typed, _No way. Nobody at school talks to me. Who there is going to walk up and kiss me?_

 _Maybe before high school?_ Hux suggested. After all, Hux had been kissing other boys since he was twelve.

Ben said, _Try explaining to someone at that age that you’re not only deaf, but also gay._

Hux tensed. _Nobody knows?_

 _My dad does,_ Ben replied. _He might have caught me on the internet once when I was thirteen. Two guys in a locker room can’t really be mistaken for anything else._

Hux flushed with sympathetic embarrassment. _Did he react badly?_

 _I thought he was going to, but he just sat me down and asked me if I had ever thought seriously about my sexuality._ He paused to type more, Hux reading it as the letters appeared on his phone. _I barely even knew what that meant, so I didn’t say anything. Dad dumbed it down a little for me. He asked if I thought more about kissing boys or kissing girls. I couldn’t exactly lie, so I said boys. I braced for the worst, but he just nodded and said, “Okay, kiddo.”_ Ben winced. _And then I had to sit through a story about his college boyfriend Lando._

Hux hadn’t expected that, and likely neither had young Ben. _He’s bi?_ Hux asked.

Ben shrugged. _Yeah. He bought me my own laptop a week later and told me to clear my browser history every now and then._

 _Good God,_ Hux wrote. _I would have died of shame had my father ever walked in to see me like that._ He hadn’t lived at home, of course, when he was first experimenting, but the thought still made him want to cower. And there was no way Brendol would have handled it as smoothly as Han had. Hux added, _It had to be awkward for both of you for a bit there._

 _It was,_ Ben said, _but of all the outcomes of being caught jacking it in the living room at 2am to gay porn, it was the best one._

Hux huffed. _Yes, I guess you’re right._

Ben nosed his way down Hux’s cheek to his jaw and then to his mouth, where he gave him a kiss. Hux slid a hand into his dark hair, finding it just as soft and smooth as it had always looked. Their noses brushed as they changed the angle of the kiss, and Hux laughed. Ben had the cheek to wink at him.

 _Dad probably knows exactly what we’re up here doing,_ Ben texted when they had parted.

Hux’s eyes went wide and he gaped at Ben. He managed to type, _He knows you like me?_

 _He doesn’t *not* know_ , Ben said. _He’s been bringing you up since the track meet, though. I think he wants me to finally get a boyfriend._

Hux swallowed. He had had his arrangements with boys at school, but it wasn’t good form to actually say you were someone’s boyfriend. He had hoped to have one someday, but he hadn’t expected to be afforded the chance until university. Yet, he asked Ben, _Do you want me to be your boyfriend?_

Ben regarded him steadily, impassively, but then he wrote, _You’ve got the job if you want it._

Such a nonchalant response, but it was clear that this mattered a great deal to him. Hux hadn’t considered jumping to that conclusion, but with respect to what he actually wanted from Ben—more of these nights in bed kissing, more days spent together, weekends even—it made sense to call him what he was: his boyfriend.

Instead of texting, Hux signed: **I want it.**

Ben nearly tackled him as he caught him in his arms and kissed him solidly. This was going to take some explaining to Brendol and Maratelle, and Brendol wouldn’t like it if it took Hux away from his practice hours, but Hux would contend with that later. For now, he pulled Ben down until Ben was lying over top of him, both of them focused on nothing in the world but each other.

They were wrapped together, Hux short of breath and enveloped in Ben’s embrace, when the lights in the room flashed off and on again. Hux started, but Ben was already rolling off of him and onto his feet.

“One second!” Ben called. Grabbing his phone he shot a quick message to Hux: _I can’t hear them knock, so they use the lights._

Hux just managed to straighten his askew jumper and hair before Ben opened the door. Han was standing on the other side, looking utterly smug. He signed something Hux didn’t know.

Ben smiled as he turned to Hux and interpreted: “It means ‘boyfriend.’”

Hux raised his right hand, forming it into a fist, and moved it twice in a knocking motion, like the nod of his head.

**Yes.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Illustrations for this chapter:  
> [Baby Ben and Uncle Luke teaching him to sign](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/173929019650/koujaaku-its-finals-week-and-i-really-should-be) by my partner in crime, koujakku  
> [Han asking Ben if Hux is his boyfriend](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/174086478960/redelicebeta-more-stuff-for-gefionne) by [Redelice](http://redelicebeta.tumblr.com/)  
> [Ben and Hux's first kiss](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/174083634865/nadiasna7-they-finally-kissed-each-other-just) by [nadiasna7](https://nadiasna7.tumblr.com/)  
> [Ben and Hux's Skype chat](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/174127571310/general-ucc-they-regarded-each-other-through) by [general-ucc](https://general-ucc.tumblr.com/)


	5. Fifth Movement

The Daily Grind was built into an old warehouse building on Main Street a block away from the movie theater. Draperies hung from the high ceiling to keep the many voices from echoing around the space, and there were tables and plush chairs scattered around the concrete floor. The shop served more than just coffee: salads and snacks, desserts and sandwiches. The food was good, Hux had heard, but expensive. At ten o’clock in the morning, though, all he wanted was a large cappuccino.

The Sunday morning crowd at the shop was fairly big, but when he walked in, he spotted Phasma at one of the tables by the front windows, a cup of black coffee already in front of her. He made his way over and dropped his bag in the chair across from her.

“Morning,” he said. “I’m going to order. Is Ben here yet?”

“I haven’t seen him,” said Phasma. “I thought he would be with you.”

They were coming from their separate houses, so no, they didn’t come at the same time. But they had been texting back and forth almost nonstop since the night before, when they had kissed and admitted to a very pleased Han Solo that they were together. After Hux had kissed Ben goodnight at the door, he had cycled home in a daze of happiness and excitement. Maratelle had greeted him in the living room when he got home, and he had replied brightly. She had given him a curious look, but said nothing about his good mood. He had gone to his room, changed for bed, and then immediately pulled out his phone and texted Ben.

_I don’t think I can sleep,_ he had written. _You’re all I can think about._

Ben’s reply had come swiftly. _I know. I’m just lying here wishing you were still with me. But that’s nothing new. It’s been like that since I met you. I tried to play it cool and hoped you wouldn’t notice that I hated when you left after lunch every day._

Hux had grinned into the darkness, flushed with pleasure. _You liked me right from the start?_

_I liked you from the moment I saw you,_ Ben had said. _You’re so beautiful, but I figured you’d never look at me, let alone come talk to me._

_Then why did you chase me away when I first introduced myself?_ Hux had asked.

_I panicked_ , Ben had replied. _I thought someone had put you up to it to mess with me. I couldn’t stand that. I wanted you to be better than that. And you were, but I had no idea. So I ran._

Hux hated that Ben had ever felt that way, that he had to fear that people were malicious enough to tease him.

_I would never hurt you on purpose,_ Hux had told him.

_I know that now,_ Ben had said. _You’re amazing like that._

Hux was looking forward to seeing him this morning, knowing just having him nearby would make him tingle. Excusing himself from Phasma, he went up to the coffee bar to order his drink. He was standing and waiting for it when Ben came into the shop. He peered around, and when he spotted Hux, he beamed and started over toward him.

**Hello** , Hux signed.

Ben signed it back. He pressed his lips together, hesitating before asking, **May I kiss you?**

Hux signed quickly **Yes** and let Ben give him a peck on the lips. Hux cast a brief glance at Phasma, but she was looking at her phone, typing something with one thumb as she held her coffee in her other hand. It wouldn’t be long before people found out about them, of course, but Hux was still a bit nervous about how the school would take it.

**I’m getting something to drink** , Ben signed, still smiling. **Meet you at the table**.

Hux picked up his cappuccino and went back to join Phasma. When he sat, she waggled her eyebrows.

“I saw that, you know,” she said. “Ben Solo just kissed you on the lips. I guess you two finally figured yourselves out, eh?”

Hux said, “I suppose we did.”

“When?” Phasma asked.

“Last night. I didn’t see it coming, but...well, I’m glad it did.”

Phasma smiled. “Me, too. It’s obvious you’re good for each other. I suppose you’re all right with people knowing, or he wouldn’t have kissed you in public.”

“We don’t need to hide,” Hux said. “With Poe and Finn out, it can’t be that bad to have another couple around.”

“Not at all,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. “And those two will be especially happy for you. I think everybody will.”

Hux looked down at his drink, the foam elegantly decorated with a leaf pattern. “I hope so, but I don’t really care what they think.”

Phasma said, “That’s a good thing. As long as you’re happy, who gives a shit what anyone else thinks?” She held up her cup. “Cheers and congratulations.”

Hux tapped his mug against hers.

Ben joined them a few minutes later with a large mug of hot chocolate in his hands. Phasma scooted the chair beside her out in invitation. Ben took it, dropping his backpack next to him on the floor. From inside he pulled his laptop and his maths book. He opened the laptop and began typing. He turned it toward Phasma for her to read. Hux assumed he was telling her it was easier if they typed than spoke, him reading her lips. She nodded and grabbed her own computer.

“Group chat?” she said to Hux. “I’ll invite you.”

Hux pulled up Skype and added her as a contact when she told him her email. Ben joined them in the group conversation. Phasma began: _Okay, let’s start with triangles…_

Over the next two hours, she walked them both through their book’s chapter on basic angles and Pythagorean theorem. They worked on problems at the end of the chapter until Ben had a better handle on them. It took far more time to type out their conversation than speak it, but Ben would have a transcript of it to look back at later if he needed a refresher. They got refills on their coffee and ordered some croissants to nibble on. It was after noon when they finally threw in the towel and closed their books.

_You’re going to nail the test on Wednesday now_ , Phasma typed in their group chat. _You’ve got the hang of it._

_Thanks,_ Ben replied. _I really appreciate you taking the time to do this._

_Sure thing,_ she said. _It’s nice to finally talk to you. We’ve been in homeroom together since freshman year and I’ve never said a word to you. Sorry about that._

_It’s okay,_ Ben said. _I probably wouldn’t have wanted to say anything back._ He smiled at Hux. _It took a lot to get me to start talking to anyone._ His hand was resting on the tabletop and Hux reached out to lay his over it. Ben turned his palm up to squeeze Hux’s fingers.

_Well, that’s my cue to leave you alone,_ Phasma typed. _I’ll see you both in school tomorrow._ She closed her laptop and slid it back into her large purse. She took her empty mug up to the bin for used dishes and, waving, headed out.

**She’s nice** , Ben signed after she had gone, forced to let go to Hux’s hand. **Thanks for setting this up.**

Hux replied, **She is. And it was no trouble. I’m glad you came. It’s good to see you.**

Ben nodded. **You, too. I’ve been thinking about you all morning.**

**Me, too** , Hux signed.

**What else are you doing today?**

Hux didn’t know the signs to explain, so he typed into the their private chat window: _I’m actually meeting someone here in 45 minutes._

_Who?_ Ben asked.

_A friend,_ Hux said. He had promised not to lie to Ben, but he didn’t want to say that Arianne was from his ASL class. _From outside school._

_That’s cool_ , said Ben. _I guess I should leave then._

_Not yet,_ Hux insisted. _Maybe in a half hour?_

Ben grinned. _Okay._

They typed back and forth for that time, until it was nearly one o’clock. Ben told Hux that his cousin and uncle were coming over for dinner later and that he was looking forward to seeing them.

_You’ll have to meet them sometime,_ Ben said. _Oh wait, you already know Rey. She said she met you when you went to the movies with Phasma._

Hux balked. _Rey_ was Ben’s cousin? That meant that her father, Luke, was his uncle. He wasn’t just a teacher at the Skywalker School, but the headmaster. Hux had told him outright that he was learning ASL for Ben and he hadn’t said a word about their family connection. Hux wondered why.

_Yes, I have,_ Hux said. _She seems nice._

Ben made a face. _She’s a pain in the ass most of the time, but I love her. We grew up together even though she’s homeschooled._

_But you weren’t,_ said Hux. _Why not?_

_I wanted to go to high school like a normal kid,_ Ben replied. _I don’t want my life to be ruled by the fact that I’m deaf. Some people stay only within the community for their whole lives, but I didn’t want that. And I’m glad I decided to go to school because otherwise I wouldn’t have met you._

Hux took his hand again, stroking his knuckles with his thumb. _I’m so lucky to have you,_ he wrote.

_Hell yes you are_ , Ben teased. Hux laughed and squeezed his hand. Ben continued, _I’d better go so you can meet your friend_. _Text me later?_

_Of course,_ Hux said.

As Ben got up, Hux rose too, so he could give him a quick kiss before he left. They grinned at each other, and then Ben was gone.

Arianne came in eight minutes later, making straight for Hux. “Hey,” she said. “I’m going to get a coffee. Do you want anything?”

“Just a water,” Hux said. “I’ll come with you.”

They got their drinks and sat down, pulling out the sheets of signs they had been given in class. Hux asked where she wanted to start, and she said with the signs for family and friends, which she was still struggling with. Hux had a very good handle on them, so he chose a few and signed them to her. She said aloud what they were. She missed the ones for “uncle” and “cousin,” but she did better with the rest.

“Phew,” she said when they were finished with those, “this really comes naturally to you, doesn’t it?”

“No,” he said. “I just have the chance to practice a lot. Can your niece not sign yet?”

Arianne laughed. “No. She’s six months old. My sister lives in Brooklyn, so I don’t see her every day to practice. You have your friend to sign with, right?”

“Well, he’s my boyfriend now,” Hux admitted.

“Oh!” Arianne said. “That’s lovely. My cousin just married his boyfriend of five years. They had a whole to-do about it in Central Park. It was really beautiful.”

Hux didn’t want to think about anything like that at this point, but he smiled at her and offered his congratulations. “What’s the sign for ‘husband’ again?” he asked, and they went back to their lesson.

They finished up a half hour later, and Arianne offered to buy Hux lunch. He declined, saying he had to be back home to practice his recital music.

“Oh, that’s right,” she said, “you play piano. You said that in class. That’s really nice.”

“I love it,” he said.

Arianne tipped her head to the side, face falling. “It’s a shame your boyfriend can’t hear you play.”

Hux agreed, but he said, “He feels it, sitting on the piano.”

“Oh my,” she sighed. “That’s very romantic, Hux.”

He looked down. “It suppose it is.”

She ushered him toward the door. “I won’t keep you. See you in class on Tuesday!”

Hux unlocked his bicycle from the rack outside the shop and mounted up to ride back home. When he arrived, he went straight for the piano and began to play, wishing that Ben was there with him.

 

****

 

Hux got to the Skywalker School on Tuesday promptly at six-twenty, as he usually did. He was the first student in the classroom, but he found Rey already there sorting through papers. When she looked up to see him, she scowled, dropping the papers and storming over to him.

“Is it true?” she demanded. “Are you really Ben’s boyfriend?”

Hux stood his ground. “Yes.”

She leveled a finger at him. “Okay, look, you had better not hurt him. He’s had it rough enough in his life. Do _not_ break his heart.”

“If I wasn’t serious about him,” Hux said stridently, “would I be here? He’s the best friend I’ve ever had and I really care about him.”

Rey backed off, if only a little. “Phasma says you’re bringing him to the football game on Saturday. I’m gonna be watching you. If you do one thing I don’t like, you’re toast. Got it?”

“I understand,” said Hux. She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Hux continued, “I didn’t know you were his cousin—that Luke was his uncle.”

“No?” she asked. “Well, we are. And this family sticks by each other. You had better not mess with Ben or you have all of us to deal with.”

Hux frowned at her. “I won’t. He’s dear to me.”

“Okay,” said Rey. “I believe you. And if Ben likes you, well, I guess I can deal with you being with him. I mean...like you said, not everybody learns ASL for their boyfriend.” A hint of a smile crossed her lips. “That’s special.”

“Ben is special,” Hux said. “And I won’t hurt him if I can help it. I want him to be happy.”

Rey sighed. “I can safely say that you do. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s on Cloud Nine.”

Hux warmed. Quietly but resolutely, he said, “So am I.”

“Gross,” Rey grumbled. “Whatever. Just be good to him.” Turning on her heel, she stomped back up to the front of the room.

The other students trickled in and Luke joined them a few minutes later. He gave Hux a warm smile—pointed—and Hux knew he knew about him and Ben, too. At least he didn’t disapprove.

“Good evening,” Luke began, signing the words as he spoke them. “We’re starting tonight with action verbs. Rey has laid out your resources. I’ll go through them with you before we practice.”

Hux didn’t know many of these signs and worked hard to commit them to memory over the course of the class. He was glad for the worksheets depicting them to take home to continue practicing. Maybe he could show a few of them to Ben at lunch the next day.

They hadn’t made a big fuss at school on Monday about their new status, but word got around pretty quickly. They got some inquisitive looks—nothing abusive, though.    Mr. Tarkin eyed them in English to make sure they weren’t behaving inappropriately. They were on their best behavior, not daring to even hug in the halls. However, they exchanged the sign for “kiss” several times throughout the day. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what it meant, and Phasma had, just like Rey, called them “gross.” Hux ignored the good-natured ribbing and went about his day.

When Luke concluded the lesson for the night, Hux approached him. **You’re Ben’s uncle** , Hux signed to him. **I didn’t know.**

**I am** , Luke replied. **And you’re his boyfriend. I’m happy for you. He needs someone special in his life. And I’d bet that you do, too.**

Hux signed **Yes** , and Luke inclined his head.

**Take care of each other** , he signed, and left the classroom.

Hux went home feeling good, and stayed up late that night texting with Ben.

 

****

 

The next day, Wednesday, they found each other again at lunch, going to a back table in the cafeteria rather than outside, where cold was beginning to nip at the outside air. Hux had a turkey sandwich and Ben a wrap of some kind and they were eating placidly, texting back and forth as they sat across from each other. They were talking about the book Hux was reading, which he was sincerely enjoying.

_Just wait until you get to the end,_ Ben wrote. _It’s great. Then I’ve got the next one in the series for you. Unless you want to take a break from Simmons._

_I might,_ Hux said. _What else do you suggest?_

_I was thinking about some horror since Halloween isn’t so far away. Have you ever read Dracula? It’s really short, but has this great style with fake newspaper articles and journal entries. Seriously good, and a classic._

_Do you think I would actually like it?_ Hux asked.

Ben shrugged one shoulder. _I dunno. Maybe you’d think it’s boring, but I think it’s amazing. Give it a shot? If you don’t like it, you can read Frankenstein instead. It’s not anything like the Hollywood versions. It’s way better, darker. I read it when I was a freshman._

_Okay,_ said Hux. _I’ll give it a shot._

He was nearly done with lunch, but there was still more than fifteen minutes left of lunch. Feeling a bit restless, he shifted in his seat. Ben read him and cocked a brow.

_Want to get out of here?_ Ben asked.

_And go where?_

_I know a spot. Come with me._

Ben grabbed his tray and headed for the dishwashing station, dropping it there before stealing into the hall when the lunch monitors weren’t looking. Hux ducked after him, feeling a little daring to be breaking the rules. Ben led them down the main hall and around the corner to the men’s restroom. He had to be kidding. But he wasn’t. Ben pushed the door open and went inside, leaving Hux to follow him.

**What are we doing in here?** Hux signed to him when the door had closed behind them.

Ben gave him a come hither gesture as he backed into the stall on the far wall. Hux, bewildered, went inside after him. It was close quarters when Ben swung the door shut and locked it. He gave Hux about two seconds before he slipped his arms around his waist and pulled him close. He bent his head and kissed Hux’s lips.

Well, then. Apparently they were going to snog in the bathroom until lunch was over. It seemed vaguely disgusting to be in here, but Hux couldn’t deny that there was a thrill at the notion of hiding and stealing a few kisses where anyone could walk in and see two pairs of feet in the stall. Lacing his fingers behind Ben’s head, Hux kissed him enthusiastically.

They hadn’t had any chance to be alone together in private since Saturday, but they had carved out some time after school to sneak away behind the gym to make out a bit before Ben had to go to track practice. Ben was a quick and clever learner and had already discovered how Hux liked to have his lower lip sucked and to go into a kiss with fervor and tongues before slowing down and exchanging close-lipped pecks.

Ben had outright trembled when Hux had first kissed along his jaw and down his neck. Hux was careful not to suck too hard at his skin and leave bruises; only clumsy partners ever did that. Ben wasn’t _quite_ so cautious and Hux had woken up this morning to a small bruise just at the side of his neck. He had fortunately been able to wear a turtleneck sweater to avoid the questions from his parents. He hadn’t yet told them about Ben; he was still looking for a way.

One thing about Ben that Hux already relished was his breadth. He could push Hux up against the wall—never harshly, of course—and all but swallow him up and hide him from passersby. Hux loved putting his hands on Ben’s chest as they kissed, feeling the size of him—so much bigger than Hux was. Ben was pressing him against the stall door now, arms around his waist. Hux rubbed the nape of Ben’s neck, which he knew he liked.

Hux was content to say nothing as they did this, just focusing on Ben and how attentive he was to Hux’s desires. Hux had a few of those at the back of his mind, but he didn’t intend to rush Ben into anything. They had a lot of time to consider going further than making out (apparently in bathrooms).

The initial desperation faded as they pulled back to languidly explore each other with their mouths. Ben left damp kisses on Hux’s chin, his cheek, his brow. He stroked Hux’s back through his shirt, broad hands spanning the small of it. The sweater prevented him from getting to Hux’s neck, but he didn’t seem to mind. He wandered idly back to Hux’s lips, nipping at the bottom one and catching it between his teeth. Hux let out a little groan. He was remiss sometimes that Ben couldn’t hear him make those noises. He enjoyed listening to his partners’ sounds of pleasure; maybe Ben would have been the same, if the circumstances were different.

But if Ben could feel the music when Hux played the piano, maybe he could feel Hux’s sounds as well. Pushing him back a little, Hux made enough room to sign.

**I want to try something** , Hux signed. **Give me your hand.**

Ben obeyed, offering his upturned palm. Hux placed it over his throat, and said aloud, “I want you to feel me make a sound. For how good it is when you kiss me.”

Ben clearly felt the vibration of his voice as he spoke, but read his lips. Slowly, Ben nodded.

“Kiss me,” Hux said.

He couldn’t be overly loud, but he wanted Ben to feel him, so, as Ben’s tongue slipped into his mouth again, he moaned. Ben’s hand tightened slightly around his throat, but not uncomfortably. Hux made the sound again. They stayed there for a while, Ben’s hand over Hux’s throat, kissing until Hux’s lungs were burning for air.

**You feel good** , Ben signed when they separated. **I make you feel that way?**

**Yes** , Hux replied. **You make me feel very good.**

Ben’s cheeks were pink, his lips, too—from their kisses. He looked absolutely stunning, and Hux wanted nothing more than to devour him. Slyly, he glanced down to the juncture of Ben’s thighs. He was clearly affected, just as Hux was. Hux kept his hands to himself, though, instead just letting them fall to his sides.

**Do you want to leave?** Ben asked.

**It’s still lunch** , Hux replied.

Ben shook his head. **I mean leave school. Go somewhere else.**

Hux raised his brows. If they skipped their afternoon classes, they would be marked absent and the main office would require notes from their parents explaining why they weren’t present. If the note wasn’t produced by the next day, you got detention and your parents were called. These were new rules for Hux, as he had never had anywhere to go if he skipped class at Arkanis. The village was miles away from campus, and unless you were in the infirmary, you were expected to be in your assigned lesson.

He didn’t know the signs for “detention” or “get in trouble,” so he just asked, **Go where?**

**Does it matter?** Ben asked in reply.

Hux supposed it didn’t, and the idea was taking root now. It wasn’t raining, and even if it was cool, they could still walk anywhere in town without a being too uncomfortable.

**Okay,** he signed to Ben. **Let’s go.**

Grinning, Ben reached around him to unlock the stall door. Hux nearly fell out as he opened it, but Ben caught him by the waist and landed a soft kiss on his lips. They headed out of the bathroom and down the hall to where their lockers were. Hux grabbed his coat and gloves and met Ben at the doors to the quad. Nobody would stop them leaving, he guessed, and even if they tried, they could make up excuses about their parents. Hux wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to explain the forthcoming call about his absence, but he would contend with that tomorrow. For now, they were off, and he was excited.

They got clear of the school building and made for Main Street, Hux letting Ben pick their destination. Nothing was said as they walked, but as they were about to cross the street at a stoplight, Ben took Hux’s hand in his and didn’t let go until they reached the Daily Grind.

_You want a hot chocolate?_ Ben texted as they entered and stopped to look at the menu written on the chalkboard above the coffee bar.

_Sure,_ Hux replied. _I think I have $5._

_Don’t worry, I’ve got it. You order, though. It’s easier._

The barista was a young woman with purple hair combed dramatically to one side and shaved on the other. She had a ring or two on every finger and a stud through her artfully sculpted right eyebrow.

“What can I get for you two?” she asked.

“Two hot chocolates, please,” Hux said. “Can we get the marshmallows?”

The girl smiled. “Sure thing, sweetie. That’s $8.61. It’ll be up at the bar in a couple of minutes.”

Ben pulled out his wallet and handed her a ten dollar bill. She made the change, which he just dropped into the tip jar. They went to stand by the bar to wait.

**Are we going to spend all afternoon here?** Hux signed.

**Maybe an hour** , Ben replied. **I think there’s a movie showing later on.** He winked. **We could pretend to watch.**

Hux laughed. **Sounds good.**

When their drinks were ready, they went to sit in two of the plush armchairs at the back of the shop. Hux cradled the warm mug in his hands, sipping at it to suck one of the mini marshmallows into his mouth. It was sweet enough to shock him, and exactly the thing he needed. He brought up his messages with Ben on his phone as he set the mug down.

_What exactly gave you the idea to ditch class?_ he asked.

Ben was scooping a marshmallow up with a spoon, but he read the text on his phone where it lay on his knee. He smiled and put down his spoon.

_I just wanted to hang out with you_ , he replied. _We only really see each other at lunch. We don’t talk in English._

_There’s after school,_ Hux wrote.

Ben eyed him mischievously. _We don’t talk much then._

Hux snorted. _No, I suppose we don’t. We’ll be together on Saturday, though, for the game. And then after._

They had made plans to go to Ben’s house after the game for a sleepover. Hux hadn’t yet asked his parents if he could go, but he didn’t think they would object if he asked tonight. Ben had told Hux that Han had been totally supportive of them staying together for the night, but Leia had sternly insisted that Hux sleep on the couch so they couldn’t get up to anything in Ben’s bedroom that wasn’t sleeping. Hux had agreed to those terms.

_I know,_ Ben said. _I just didn’t want to wait._ Reaching toward Hux, he held out his hand. Hux took it and threaded their fingers together.

_You’re still okay with all of this, right?_ Ben asked after a minute. _Nobody at school’s been weird, but…_

_Yes, of course,_ Hux was quick to reply, emphasizing it with his expression and a squeeze of Ben’s hand. _I’m so happy to be with you._

Ben’s smile was sweet, his eyes soft. _Me, too. It still seems a little surreal that I can just kiss you whenever I want to. That I can hold your hand here, and while we were walking earlier. I’m so lucky._

_We’re both lucky,_ Hux said. _Had I not moved here, I wouldn’t have met you. I would have hated that._

_You wouldn’t have known you were missing out on anything,_ said Ben. _You’d just be at Arkanis with the other boys, none the wiser._

Hux’s sensible side agreed with that, but the side that was less so made him type: _I don’t know. I think I would feel something missing._ He blinked at Ben, emphatic as he wrote, _I think something’s always been missing until you._

Ben raised Hux’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles. He didn’t have to say anything; Hux knew he agreed.

When they finished their hot chocolates, they decided to go over and look at the movie times. There was an action movie starting in twenty minutes. Neither of them were particularly interested in it, but as Ben had said before, they weren’t going to watch much of it. Ben bought them tickets and picked up the closed captioning device for himself, skipping the concession stand, and going straight for the theater to pick seats at the back. Ben put the device in his cup holder, but he didn’t bother to look at it. They didn’t even wait for the lights to go down before they delved into each other.

 

****

 

It was after three o’clock when the movie let out, and Hux was expected at home to start his practice hours for the day. He told Ben it would be tedious and Ben would surely be bored, but Ben had persisted, asking if he could come and watch him play. Hux had relented and they had walked together to his house.

Maratelle wasn’t there when they arrived, but she had left a note for Hux saying that she was out grocery shopping but that there were lemon bars in a Tupperware on the counter. Hux and Ben helped themselves to the sweets before heading into the living room. Ben sat down on the sofa, reclining as he licked the powdered sugar from his lips, and Hux took his place on the bench.

He started the French Suite No.5 from the top, at the allemande, which he had memorized now. He closed his eyes as he played through it, attention completely on the music and not on his captive audience of one. Things tended to fade away when he played, until all he could see and hear was the piano. Rae said it was a strength of his—that ability to concentrate so fully on his music. His fingers moved faultlessly over the keyboard, far more dexterous than he was with his signs. Someday he’d be able to sign as fluidly as Ben; he’d keep learning and practicing until he could.

Holding the sustain pedal, he let the last chords linger in the air. He turned to find Ben smiling at him, and Ben signed his applause.

**Thank you** , Hux signed in reply. **Do you want to come feel?** he asked, gesturing to the body of the piano.

Ben got up and shucked his letterman jacket, leaving it on the sofa. He had removed his shoes and was just wearing a pair of striped socks with the heels worn thin. He came up to the piano and leaned over it, his hands spread wide.

**Climb on** , Hux signed, using words he had learned in class.

Ben looked surprised, but did as he was told, lifting himself up onto the top of the piano and lying down on his stomach. Since it wasn’t a proper grand, his legs hung off the end. It looked ridiculous, but if it meant he could feel everything Hux played, that was all that mattered. Hux rooted around in the storage space under the bench seat to find a heavy, dramatic piece for him. He settled on some Beethoven and set the music out. He caught Ben’s eye right before he began and smiled. Ben grinned back.

The heavy chords and fast rhythms of the piece had Hux sweating by the fourth page, but he was determined to see it through. He threw everything he had at it, unconcious of the noise or even necessarily the technical precision. It was more important for Ben to feel it than for Rae to tell Hux he had played it cleanly.

He was so deep into the music that he didn’t hear it when the front door opened, or the initial exclamation. Only when Ben looked up with shock did he realize something was amiss. He stopped mid-measure to find Brendol Hux standing gobsmacked and red in the face at the threshold to the living room. Generally, he didn’t come home until half past five; it was only four fifteen.

“Da,” Hux started, but Brendol cut him off.

“What in the hell is going on here?” his father demanded. “That is a ten thousand-dollar instrument, not a bloody jungle gym. Get off of there, boy!” He stormed forward a step, waving a meaty hand at Ben. He was speaking quickly, and with his accent, it was clear Ben couldn’t follow what he was saying. Ben was wide-eyed and fearful, but guessed right to slither down from the piano onto his feet.

“I cannot believe you would be so stupid, Armitage!” Brendol snarled. “Letting someone cavort around on your piano like that. Rae would be ashamed of you. Such disrespect!” He grabbed Hux, who had gotten up, by the shoulders and shook him once, forcefully.

“No, don’t!” Ben cried, the words loud enough to be heard over Brendol’s.

Brendol turned his angry gaze on Ben and snapped, “Who are you?”

“He’s my friend, Da,” Hux managed to get in. “We weren’t fooling around. He was feeling me play.”

“ _Feeling_ you play?” said Brendol. “He should be acting like civilized person and listening, not running all over an expensive instrument—”

“He can’t hear it,” Hux said, voice on the verge of breaking. “He can’t hear anything. He’s deaf.”

Brendol’s hold on his shoulders relaxed some, and he looked at Ben, who was still looking fearful. Hux quickly signed to him: **It’s okay.**

Ben shook his head. **Did he hurt you?**

**No,** Hux signed. **I’m fine.**

Brendol watched the exchange happen, his surprise and confusion apparent. Hux extricated himself from his grasp.

“He likes to feel it when I play, Da,” Hux began quietly. “He can’t hear the music, but he can feel the vibrations. That’s why he was on the piano. We weren’t just fooling around, I swear. It’s the only way I can share what I play with him.”

Brendol’s ruddy brows drew together as he glanced back and forth between his son and Ben.

“Da,” Hux said again.

“All right,” Brendol said. “I believe I understand.” He shot a look at Ben, but addressed Hux: “Can he understand me?”

“Yes,” Ben replied aloud. “I can read your lips.” He took a step closer, holding out his hand. “My name is Ben.”

Brendol took his hand and shook it, albeit dubiously. He was just letting go when the door opened again, admitting Maratelle.

“Oh, Brenny,” she said brightly, “I didn’t expect you home so early! And Armitage...and Ben.” She beamed, giving Ben a wave. “Hello, dear.”

Ben waved back.

Seemingly reading the tension in the room, she sobered some. “Is there something wrong?”

Nobody said anything at first, but then Brendol heaved a sigh and said, “I need a drink,” as he shouldered past her, bound for the kitchen. Maratelle gave Hux a quizzical look.

“He’ll tell you, I imagine,” he said.

Maratelle nodded and turned on her heel to follow Brendol, her blond ponytail bouncing at the back of her head.

The second she was gone, Hux faced Ben and signed: **I’m sorry. He’s an asshole.**

Ben’s frightened expression was gone, replaced by fury tinged with hurt. He stormed over to the sofa to pull his phone from his pocket and began furiously typing with both thumbs.

When Hux’s phone vibrated, he read: _You didn’t tell your dad about me at all, did you? Anything. And you called me your ‘friend.’ Are you too embarrassed to tell him that I’m your boyfriend because I’m disabled?_

Hux felt as if he had been slapped across the cheek. Ben’s deafness had nothing to do with why Hux hadn’t told Brendol about him. Hux having a boyfriend in general was enough to set his father off on a tirade about how Hux would be missing practice time if he was spending it off snogging some boy. It was only that that had kept Hux from saying anything earlier.

Hurriedly, he replied, _No! I’ve been meaning to tell him about us, but I just couldn’t find the right time. It doesn’t make any difference that you’re deaf, Ben, I promise. I wouldn’t have even thought to mention it if I was telling him I was seeing someone because I don’t think of you as disabled. This is normal for me now. I forget that it’s not normal for other people._

Ben read the text over, but continued to frown.

Hux typed: _I’m not ashamed of you. Not at school, not with my parents. I don’t care if being with you makes me look a certain way to certain people. I just care about you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell Da._ He left off typing there and just began to sign: **I’m sorry. I’m sorry.**

Ben slipped his phone into his pocket, reaching for Hux’s hands to stop him. **I believe you** , he signed. **Family is complicated.**

Deflating, Hux let his head drop onto Ben’s shoulder. Thankfully, Ben’s arms came around him. Hux berated himself for being so thoughtless, so concerned with his own feelings about telling Brendol about Ben that he hadn’t considered Ben’s. Selfish prat, he thought. You don’t deserve him.

Footsteps coming through the entryway again had Hux stepping a bit away from Ben. Maratelle, though, wasn’t fooled. She eyed them both, knowing and pleased.

“It’s good to see you, Ben,” she said slowly enough for him to read. “Brendol is sorry for yelling. I’m going to put dinner on. Would you like to stay?”

“Yes, please,” Ben said. “But I’m not much of a talker.”

Maratelle flushed pink, but nodded. “Of course, dear. Let me just go and—”

“Wait,” Hux called. “Will you get Da? I want to introduce him to Ben properly.”

Maratelle inclined her head. “All right.”

Brendol came in from the kitchen, his overcoat and suit jacket off, leaving him in his straining waistcoat and pastel yellow shirt. He held a tumbler of whisky in his right hand.

Hux took Ben’s hand and drew him up next to him. “Da, this is Ben Solo, and he’s my boyfriend. He can read your lips, but please speak slowly.”

“I see,” Brendol said gruffly. “Must be new. You didn’t say anything about a boyfriend before.”

“I should have,” said Hux, lifting his chin. “But, yes, it’s new.”

Brendol took a sip of the whisky. “Well, you’d best not let it distract you from your music.”

Hux insisted, “I get all my hours in, and Rae says I’m doing perfectly well. You know that, Da.”

Before Brendol could reply, Ben spoke. “I will spend time with him, sir, but I won’t distract him.”

Maratelle, who stood beside Brendol, said, “That’s very mature of you, Ben. I’m sure Armitage appreciates it. Now, dinner will be ready in an hour. Armitage, will you play a bit more before we sit down?”

“All right,” said Hux. With a pointed look at his father, he added, “We’ll respect the piano, but Ben can still feel it if he wants to.”

Brendol gave a curt nod and headed back to the kitchen. Maratelle shrugged one-sidedly and followed.

Hux picked up his phone and texted to Ben: _Do you need to let your parents know you’re staying here for dinner?_

_Yeah, I will in just a second,_ Ben replied. _Can you just come here?_

Hux did, stopping just in front of him. With his left hand, Ben cupped Hux’s cheek. He leaned in to kiss him, and Hux met him halfway.

**Your parents are really okay with us?** Ben signed when they broke apart.

**They’ll have to be** , Hux replied. **Because I’m not giving you up.**

They kissed again, this time for a bit longer, before Ben let Hux return to the piano. He declined to lean on it again, let alone climb on top, choosing instead to sit on the sofa and watch. He played on his phone a little, too, and Hux didn’t blame him. It wasn’t _that_ interesting to watch him for more than a few minutes.

Maratelle came and got them for dinner just over an hour later, and they sat together at the dining room table. This was going to be a sight more awkward than dinner at the Solos’ had been, he wagered—at least for Ben, who couldn’t join the conversation. Although, Hux might just be able to put his ASL to the test tonight.

“How was school today?” Maratelle asked as she handed around the bowl of salad.

Hux wasn’t quite ready to tell her about their bunking off school yet, so he avoided that. As he replied to her, he signed what he was saying, “It was good. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Ben perked up immediately, attentive to him.

Hux signed to him: **How was school for you?**

As Ben replied in ASL, Hux interpreted for his parents. “He says it was the same old. Although maths was better because of the studying we did this past weekend.”

“Ah, yes,” said Brendol. To Ben, slowly: “Do you enjoy maths?”

**No** , Ben signed. **But Hux helps me. So does our friend Phasma.**

When Hux had interpreted, Maratelle said, “Oh, you haven’t told us about her, Armitage. Another friend from school?”

“Yes,” Hux said, signing as he went. “She’s in homeroom with us, and she’s my chemistry lab partner.” He stumbled a bit with the last part of the signs, and Ben tapped him on the shoulder to show him the correct ones. Hux thanked him.

“You’ve been learning a lot in your classes, haven’t you, Armitage?” Maratelle asked. She laid a hand on Brendol’s arm before he could protest, saying softly, “He’s been taking a course in sign language. Isn’t that nice?”

Hux, tense, dared to look at Ben. He was open-mouthed, his eyes bright and shining.

Ben signed: **You’re in ASL classes?**

Hux signed: **Yes. It was supposed to be a surprise for you.**

**I’m surprised** , Ben replied, smiling that wide, warm smile Hux had come to love so much. **In a good way. My uncle teaches the beginners class.**

**I know,** Hux signed. **I just found out he was your uncle. He’s a good teacher.**

**The best** , Ben signed.

Hux raised a brow. **You’re good, too.**

**Not as good as him.**

Maratelle and Brendol watched them converse without a word, her clearly pleased and him still a bit overwhelmed by all these revelations. Trying his best to avoid being rude, Hux turned his attention back to them.

“I have learned a lot, yes,” he said. “I’m hoping to take the next course, too.”

“Of course,” said Maratelle. To Brendol: “He’s so keen on it and still fits in all his practice hours. We’re very proud of him, aren’t we, dear?”

“Hmm, yes,” Brendol muttered.

“He’s amazing,” Ben said. Hux flushed under his gaze.

Maratelle pushed on: “Tell us how the two of you met. It must be an interesting story…”

Hux did the telling, though he struggled to find the signs after a while. Ben told him not to worry about it eventually, and Hux reluctantly put his hands back in his lap. He didn’t eat a great deal of his dinner around the signs and the talking during the first part of the meal, but gradually the interrogation ended and conversation turned to Brendol’s business affairs. Hux pretended to listen as he and Ben ate, both of them exchanging looks and the occasional tap of a foot under the table.

It was Hux’s job to wash up after dinner, so he automatically began to gather plates when everyone was done. Ben went to help and wouldn’t take no for an answer when Hux tried to tell him to leave it. They rinsed the dishes in the kitchen and Hux loaded them into the dishwasher, their soapy fingers touching as they passed the plates between them. When they were finished, Maratelle offered dessert, but they had already taken their share of lemon bars.

**I should get home** , Ben signed as they left the kitchen.

**Do you need a ride?** Hux asked. **Maratelle can drive you.**

**It’s okay** , Ben said. **I can text Dad to get me up the block.** He shuffled into the entryway, kicking his sneakers. **I had fun today. Are you going to get in trouble for skipping class?**

**Probably** , Hux replied, **but it’s okay. I’ll do detention if I have to.**

Ben looked dismayed. **They won’t give you a note?**

Hux honestly didn’t know. **Will your parents give you one?**

**My dad will, if I tell him I was with you.** Ben winked. **He really likes you.** He signed something else, but Hux didn’t know those phrases.

“Good influence,” Ben said aloud.

Hux laughed. **I don’t think so after today. I’ll talk to Maratelle.**

Ben took his hand and drew him in for a kiss. They kept it short just in case they were watched. **See you tomorrow at school.**

**Text me when you get home safely** , Hux signed.

Ben nodded. **Goodnight.**

He left Hux at the door, and Hux lingered for a few moments, until Ben was out of sight.

“Armitage,” said Brendol from behind him.

Hux turned. “Yes, Da?”

“Play us something before you go upstairs for the night.”

Hux had homework to do, but if he had to stay up late to do it, he would. Following his father into the living room, he went to the piano bench and sat.

“What do you want to hear?” he asked.

Brendol, stirring a fresh glass of whisky around in his hand, said, “The Beethoven you played for Ben. He seemed to like it.”

Hux paused to decipher whether his father intended it derisively, but it didn’t seem so. In the end, it didn’t appear that Hux had had much to be afraid of when it came to his parents and Ben. Thank God for that. He wanted them to get along; he wanted Ben in his life for a long time.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Illustrations for this chapter:  
> [Hux and Ben kissing](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/174302866865/redelicebeta-weekly-allemande-update-hype) while Ben feels the sounds Hux makes by [Redelice](http://redelicebeta.tumblr.com/)  
> Ben on Hux's piano, pin-up style by [tie-fight](http://tie-fight.tumblr.com/)


	6. Sixth Movement

The main office of Endor Cross High School was always bustling in the mornings, as teachers, students, and the administrative staff were getting ready to do the morning announcements. The door to the principal’s office was closed, a pair of students getting a lecture just inside. Hux bumped into the secretary, dislodging her glasses, as he made his way toward her desk. She was the one who accepted the notes of behalf of students who had missed class.

After Ben had gone home last night and after Brendol had gone to bed, Hux had found Maratelle to fess up to skipping class and to humbly beg her for a note excusing him, so he could avoid detention.

“Armitage,” she had scolded, “I didn’t think Ben was going to be a bad influence on you. Whatever were you thinking skipping school?”

“It was my idea,” Hux had lied. “I wanted to try and play hookie, as they call it here. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but…” He trailed off, looking down in contrition he only half felt.

Maratelle had set her slender hands on her hips, frowning at him. “I should absolutely let you face the consequences of what you’ve done and go to detention.”

Hux had hung his head. “If you think that’s what’s right.”

She had sighed. “This one time I’m going to let it slide because you were honest with me, but I expect this never to happen again. If it does, there will be no leeway from me, _and_ I’ll tell your father.” The corner of her mouth turned up. “At least now I don’t have to keep your classes secret anymore. Ben was happy about it, wasn’t he?”

Hux had nodded, smiling too.

Maratelle had written him the note on a piece of notebook paper and let him take it upstairs to tuck into his bag. As he stood in front of the main office desk now, he flipped the bag open and pulled the note out, offering it to the secretary.

“An absence excuse,” he said. “For yesterday.”

The secretary took it and read it over. “All right, dear. Go on to homeroom now. Don’t be late.”

As Hux was leaving, he spotted Ben coming through the doors. He grinned, waiting for Ben to see him. When he did, he brightened, signing **Hello**.

**Have your note?** Hux asked.

**Yes** , Ben replied. **Wait here for me?**

Hux moved to the side, leaning against the wall while Ben handed in his note. He was scrolling through his phone when Ben returned, grabbing his hand and pulling him in to kiss his cheek. It was quick and went unseen by the staff in the office. Hux winked at him and they went together in the direction of Mr. Peavey’s homeroom.

**Did you get in trouble?** Ben signed as they walked. **With your dad or your stepmom?**

**No** , Hux signed back. **But Maratelle wasn’t pleased. She didn’t tell my father.**

**Lucky** , Ben said. He signed a few phrases Hux didn’t know and, seeing that, pulled out his phone. _I got an extra leaf raking hour this weekend. I have to do the whole yard._

_When will you have time for that?_ said Hux. _There’s homecoming on Saturday and then your last track meet on Sunday._

_Saturday morning early,_ Ben typed, frowning. _No rest for the wicked._

_We actually *were* wicked,_ Hux wrote.

Ben wrinkled his nose and bumped his shoulder against Hux’s in playful admonishment. **Shut up** , he signed.

Only a few students were in the classroom when they go there, and they went over to Ben’s desk in the back rather than going to Hux’s nearer the front of the room. Hux sat on the desktop while Ben took the chair, putting his hand on Hux’s thigh and rubbing lightly, affectionately. Hux felt his warmth and swallowed. They hadn’t gone further than fevered kisses yet, but Ben’s caresses over Hux’s clothes were growing bolder.

**I like that** , Hux signed.

Ben stroked down to his knee, squeezing there. He kept his eyes on Hux as he did it, and Hux could see the heated glint there.

Hux by no means wanted him to stop, but he reached for this phone and typed: _Something you want?_

Ben lazily kept his hand where it was, but texted with the other: _We’ll get in trouble for holding hands or kissing, but nobody said anything about this._

_I have a feeling this counts as “inappropriate touching,”_ Hux wrote, though his expression showed he was teasing.

_That’s unwelcome touching,_ Ben said. _This isn’t unwelcome, is it?_

Hux was quick to sign **No**. Ben grinned and worked his way back up to Hux’s mid-thigh, not venturing much farther up, though. Hux was glad for it; he wasn’t about to allow his body to compromise him. Not that he would hide it from Ben if he was aroused. If they kept up at this steadily increasing pace, it wouldn’t be long before that would become extremely relevant, extremely fast.

_You look good today,_ Ben continued, still typing adeptly with one hand. _I was checking you out by the office._

Hux resisted the urge to preen, instead reaching out to touch the collar of Ben’s maroon and gray t-shirt. _So do you,_ he wrote. _I think this shirt might be a little small, though._

Ben looked down at his chest and stomach. _I just got it. Are you messing with me?_

Hux stifled a laugh. _Yes and no,_ he replied. He swept his fingers over Ben’s shoulders, one side and then the other. _It’s tight across here. Maybe you needed the next size up...unless you’re deliberately trying to get me to look at you._

_What if I was?_ Ben asked. He cocked his head to side. _Like what you see?_

Hux signed **Yes** without hesitation.

Ben managed to look at once self-assured and shy, something which Hux found very endearing.

Hux tugged at the hair just in front of his ear. He signed: **Beautiful**.

**I want to kiss you** , Ben signed back.

**After school** , Hux told him. **Right after English. I hate to wait.**

**Me, too** , Ben signed with a sigh.

The homeroom bell rang just as Mr. Peavey walked in and called everyone to order. Hux sprang down from Ben’s desk and went to his own, already counting the hours until school was over.

 

****

 

It was soon going to be far too cold for this, Hux thought. The bulk of the gym blocked the worst of the wind, but the bricks at Hux’s back were chilly and his nose was red and cold. Fortunately, Ben’s letterman jacket was hanging open and Hux could slip his hands under it and around to Ben’s back. They were holding each other, lips pressed tight in the kisses they had been craving all day. Ben was cupping the back of Hux’s head with one palm, the other at his waist, pulling him closer.

There weren’t many people nearby at this time of day, and especially not in the nook they had found for just this purpose. They had nearly run here after the end of eighth period, both of them dropping their bags on the ground and coming together greedily. Sometimes Hux still found himself saying quiet things to himself as they did this: a small “You smell so good” as he nuzzled just under Ben’s jaw, a gentle “Yes” when Ben kissed his neck in tender presses, a whisper of Ben’s name as they paused for breath before going into another kiss. He knew Ben couldn’t hear him, but he couldn’t break himself of the habit.

Ben hadn’t forgotten about feeling the sounds Hux made. When he wanted to do it, he would just put his hand lightly over Hux’s throat and Hux would groan. Sometimes he had to affect it, but usually Ben had him making those noises without trouble.

They had a kind of language between them for when they were making out. Hux would tug on Ben’s hair if he needed air, or if he wanted Ben to kiss him elsewhere. Ben would pull back and bare his throat for Hux’s mouth when he wanted attention there. They would sometimes have to pause altogether just to look at each other, to watch the tracking of each other’s eyes to see what was desired.

Hux had discovered that Ben’s ears were particularly sensitive. When he had first taken the lobe of one between his teeth and sucked, Ben had taken a stuttering breath and let out a little whine. Hux had been so surprised that he had drawn sharply back. Ben had looked at him with confusion, quickly making space enough to sign.

**What’s wrong?** he had asked.

Hux didn’t know the sign for the noise he had made, so he had simply signed: **You made a sound.**

Ben had colored. **I do that sometimes** , he admitted. **It’s hard to control when you can’t hear it.**

He had had to take out his phone to explain that it was a critical skill for a young man to rein in his voice when he was taking care of himself. Ben had had a whole discussion about it with several of the other boys at the Skywalker School when he was twelve or thirteen. He hadn’t realized he might have been making noise while he was masturbating and was suddenly horrified that his parents might have heard something. He knew when he was speaking, of course, but in the throes...well, sometimes he just didn’t think about it.

Hux had asked, interest piqued, _I make you lose control?_

_Obviously,_ Ben had replied. _I’ve heard some hearing people think it’s a turn-off because it sounds awkward. I’ll try to stop if it bothers you._

_It doesn’t!_ Hux had typed, strident. _I just thought I had done something that you didn’t like. But you did like it?_

Ben had signed **Yes** as he typed with his other hand. _It felt amazing. Will you do it again?_

Hux had.

As they stood together now, he worked his way up along Ben’s jaw to his ear, teasing the lobe with the tip of his tongue. Ben shuddered, the hand at Hux’s waist digging into his jacket. Hux was already addicted to that reaction and pushed him further, dragging his teeth along the shell of the ear and biting down ever-so-slightly. Ben’s fingers curled around the nape of Hux’s neck, spurring him on.

Hux wanted to keep going; he wanted to see how else Ben would shake and tremble under his mouth, but they were already running out of time. Ben had to be at track practice at three o’clock, and he still needed time to change his clothes. Regretfully, Hux pulled back and eased his hands out of Ben’s jacket. Ben got the message, but frowned; he didn’t have to like it. They separated enough to sign, and said their goodbyes for the day.

**Text me tonight?** Ben asked.

Hux replied, **Of course. See you later.** He signed a kiss and shouldered his bag to go.

Staying after with Ben had forced him to forgo the bus and start riding his bicycle to school. It wouldn’t last when winter hit, but for now it was manageable. And after all, soon track practice would be over for the year and Ben could go straight home, too.

_Do you get bored when you’re not running?_ Hux had asked one night when they were sending messages back and forth instead of sleeping.

_I miss the team,_ Ben had replied, _but there’s a treadmill in our basement so I can stay in shape...mostly. Mom bought it years ago when she was on one of her workout kicks, but it didn’t stick. I use it now._

_I still have to practice piano after school,_ Hux had said, _but maybe we could do something together a few days a week?_

_I’d really like that_ , Ben had written.

Hux walked his bicycle down to the end of the school’s bus loop before mounting up and beginning the two-mile ride to his house. Maratelle was there when he got back, and she offered the usual snacks. He took an apple and carried it between his teeth into the living room. He had been itching to play some old favorites of his, as well as to work through the fourth movement of the French Suite No. 5. He was going to impress Rae with it this Saturday.

He played for the next three hours, until he was called for dinner. Brendol recounted the dry business dealings he had had over the course of the day and Hux pretended to listen. Upon request, he had played Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind”—Maratelle loved it—and it had put an idea in his head. He had talked to Ben once about spending a day in the city, just the two of them. There was no reason why they couldn’t go once track season was over and Ben had more time. Hux had an open Saturday in November, when Rae was going to be away for a performance, and he couldn’t think of a better time.

He could ask Ben tomorrow, he supposed, but he would rather it be a surprise. That would involve some collusion between him and who he judged to be the biggest advocate for his and Ben’s relationship: Ben’s father, Han.

After dinner, Hux went to his room and stared nervously at his phone. Ben had texted about practice and how sore he was, and Hux had replied, but he wanted to get this call out of the way before he really settled down to talk to him. The Solos still had a landline, which Hux had looked up in the Endor Cross Student Directory, so Hux was positive Ben wouldn’t be picking it up. Typing the numbers in, he pressed Send and prayed.

“Hello?” came a cheerful greeting on the other line after two short rings.

“Ah, hello,” Hux said. “May I speak to Mr. Solo—Han—please?”

“You’ve got him,” said Han. “And I’d bet ten bucks this is Mr. Armitage Hux. How you doing tonight, kid?”

Hux relaxed a little. “I’m very well, thank you.”

“Great. What can I do for you?”

“Well,” Hux began, “I have a proposition for you.”

“Oh?” was Han’s reply.

“Yes. I’d like to take Ben on a day-trip with me to the city. I’m there often for my piano lessons and I’ve heard of some spots I’d like to see. I was hoping he could come along and we could spend the day together.”

“Wow, that’s real thoughtful of you, Hux,” Han said. “He hasn’t been down to the city in a while, and I bet he’d rather go with you than his old man or his mom. Sounds like you haven’t asked him yet, though.”

“I haven’t,” said Hux. “I thought I might make it a surprise. I’ve time on the seventeenth of November. Do you think you might be able to see to it that he’s free that day?”

Han chuckled. “If he knew what you were planning, he’d make damn sure he was free, but I can do that. We usually have a family dinner with his uncle and cousin, but he can beg off. You thinking something a little more private for you two for dinner?”

Hux was very glad he couldn’t see him blushing. “I have a restaurant in mind, yes. What will you tell him?”

“Hm, well, I could make up just about anything, but I figure I can tell him I have a special outing for us planned. He doesn’t need to know the details. Then you can take charge whenever you want.”

“I can make some arrangements,” Hux said. “Buy train tickets and such. As long as you can get him to go along with it, I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Sounds like a plan, kid,” said Han. “You make it happen and I’ll get him to you.”

Hux sighed through his nose, pleased. “Thank you. I think he’ll enjoy it.”

“If it’s a day with you,” Han said, “it’ll be one of the best he’s ever had. You’ve worked a kind of miracle. He’s like a different person when he goes to school now. And he’s happier. You always want that for your kids, you know? Whatever makes them happy. You’re a good kid, Hux, and I’m glad my son knows you.”

“I’m glad to know him,” Hux said. “He’s the best friend I’ve ever had.”

There was a pause, a sniff, and then: “That’s good. That’s real good. Is that all you needed me for?”

“Yes. Thank you again, Han.”

“Sure thing, kid. The seventeenth of November...he’s all yours. Bye, Hux. Have a good night.”

“Same to you. Goodbye.”

Hux ended the call and, holding his phone to his chest, fell back against his mattress. The ceiling fan was still above him, the attached light fixture bright. A day in the city with Ben; it already sounded wonderful. His phone buzzed with a new text message.

_Two more days until you’re spending the night here,_ Ben wrote. _I might think about that way more than I should. I know you’ll be downstairs on the couch, but...you’ll be here all night, and I’ll wake up in the morning and you’ll still be there. That’s something I’ve dreamt about._

Hux smiled, catching his reflection in the phone’s screen. He typed: _Couch or not, I’ll still be closer to you._

Ben sent back the first emoji Hux had ever seen him use: a single red heart.

 

****

 

When Hux returned from his Saturday afternoon piano lesson with Rae, he had only twenty minutes before he was to meet Ben at the football field for the homecoming game. He dashed upstairs as soon as they crossed the threshold into the house, already pulling off his tie as he ran. He threw it to the side along with his button-up and tugged on the Endor Cross blue jumper he had ordered, a thermal layer under it to keep warm in the October night. He had already packed a bag for his overnight at Ben’s, and all he had to do was grab it and head back down to the entryway. Maratelle hadn’t even bothered to take off her coat.

“Ready to go, dear?” she asked.

“Yes,” Hux replied, taking his gloves and a knit hat from the shelf by the coat rack.

They were just turning out of the driveway when Ben texted: _I’m waiting at the end of the gravel path. Are you going to be here soon?_

_Headed out now,_ Hux replied. _Give me eight minutes._

Maratelle put her foot on the gas and they were off out of the neighborhood. She had always been a wild driver back in England, but it had somehow been magnified by changing the side of the road she drove on. The Lexus roared into the high school parking lot, pulling up with a lurch just at the footpath that led to the field. Ben was there, a blanket over his arm and a thermos in his hand. Hux leaned over to give Maratelle a quick peck on the cheek, but she clicked her tongue at him and told him to get on. He jumped down from the car, slammed the door behind him, and strode over to Ben.

With his hands full, Ben couldn’t sign, but he didn’t need to; Hux came right up and kissed him full on the mouth, bumping their foreheads together before he moved back. Hux offered to take the thermos, but Ben shook his head and started up the path. There were groups of older fans as well as packs of students trotting up to the field, all of whom seemed in a far greater hurry to get there than Hux and Ben. They sauntered together, exchanging small smiles as they went.

Phasma, Finn, and Rey were holding a place for them halfway up the bleachers at the fifty yard line, and they waved as they spotted Hux and Ben. Rey had her brown hair dyed blue and done up in some kind of outrageous arrangement on top of her head. Phasma was already wrapped in a blue blanket, a headband adorned with an unusually festive blue bow over her hair. Finn was wearing Poe’s letterman jacket and holding a sleeve of caramel popcorn.

“Hey, you guys!” he called as they made their way up to their appointed place. “Glad you could make it!”

“Good to see you, Hux,” said Phasma. She turned to Ben, but he was watching Rey, who was signing to him rapid fire.

Hux took the thermos and blanket from Ben’s hands and immediately he was signing back to her, his expressive face creating its own narration. Hux didn’t bother to try to eavesdrop on their conversation; he laid the blanket down on an open section of the bleachers and sat down.

On the field, the football team was warming up, some throwing or punting balls, others stretching out or talking to the coach. The cheerleaders were out in full force, whipping the crowd up into a fervor with enthusiastic cheers and waves of their blue and white pompoms. Four girls tossed a fifth into the air, where she spun around before landing back in their waiting arms. Endor Cross was far too small to merit a marching band, but the speakers around the field were blaring upbeat music. The spectators were all animated and smiling, waving pennants or—amazingly—the foam fingers one saw in films.

“This cliché enough for you?” Phasma asked.

“It’s charming,” Hux replied. “I’m glad I was convinced to come.”

She laughed. “Good. We were happy the two of you could make it.”

Hux felt it as Ben took his hand and laced their fingers together, indicating that Ben was now paying attention to whatever Hux was doing rather than signing with Rey. Phasma waved at him and he waved back. Finn offered his popcorn, and Ben took a few kernels.

“Where’s Poe?” Hux asked. He couldn’t see the slight quarterback on the field.

Finn pointed to where one of the assistant coaches was bent over a playbook. Poe, uniformed and holding his white helmet in his hand, stood beside him, deep in conversation. He looked good in his jersey and large shoulder pads, and somehow his wavy dark hair was still perfectly arranged.

“They’re undefeated this year, aren’t they?” Hux said.

“Yep!” Finn replied. “This is going to be another win, I’m sure of it. Poe’s having an amazing year.”

Hux couldn’t help but smile at how proud he was of his boyfriend. They were well-suited, both easygoing and pleasant. He and Ben were more severe, he supposed, but at least Ben was quicker to smile these days. He squeezed the hand he held, and Ben rubbed his thumb over Hux’s knuckles.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer began over the loudspeaker, “welcome to Endor Cross High School! Tonight Endor Cross’s own Bears will be fighting it out with the Coruscant Sentinels. Let’s hear it for the home team!”

A cheer went up from the crowd, and the cheerleaders did back handsprings along the side of the field. The announcer bid them all rise for the national anthem, and Hux expected Ben to let go of his hand, but he didn’t. They stood side by side while a girl from the choir sang, some in the crowd singing along. When it was finished, everyone applauded the girl, who carefully stepped down from a platform on account of her extremely high heels.

“All right,” the announcer continued, “let’s get this game started with the coin toss.”

Hux had read several articles about the rules of American football, but he was still at a bit of a loss as they ran through the kickoff and through the first few plays. When he asked Finn what was happening for a penalty, Finn took the time to explain what “holding” meant.

The first touchdown went to the Bears, and the fans went wild. Hux clapped, but left the cheering to the others. Ben stood still, just watching and occasionally bumping the back of his hand against Hux’s. When everyone was held rapt by another one of Poe’s passes, Ben kissed him, nudging his nose with his own.

Phasma caught them at it and made a face. “Gross!” she called over the noise of the crowd and the music.

**What did she say?** Ben signed.

**She thinks we’re disgusting** , Hux signed back.

Ben grinned. **Good.** He reached out to touch Hux’s cheek, and Hux leaned into it.

When they parted, Hux caught sight of Rey glaring at them. She signed: **I’m watching you.**

Hux replied, **Watch all you want** , and ignored her.

It got cooler as the game went on and Hux got up to wrap the blanket around them. Ben opened the thermos to pour hot chocolate, which they shared. Finn and Phasma and Rey were completely engrossed by the game, and Hux _did_ watch, but it was better just to have Ben beside him under the blanket.

At halftime, the cheerleaders did a dance routine on the field to a pop song, which got a fair amount of applause. Hux was impressed by the level of sensuousness they could get away with under the pretense of “dance.” Their coach was a recent college grad who had apparently taken her squad all the way to some national championship, but Hux didn’t think that much gyration was necessary for a bunch of fifteen- to eighteen-year-old girls.

Finn and Phasma went away for a few minutes, leaving Ben and Hux with only Rey. She crossed her arms over her narrow chest and leveled them with a stare.

**Stop it** , Ben signed to her. **You’re not going to change anything by frowning all night.**

She only scowled deeper.

Ben turned to Hux. **She’s just joking. She doesn’t have to protect me.**

Hux admitted, **I don’t blame her.**

**Why?** Ben asked.

Hux didn’t know the appropriate signs to explain himself, so he pulled out his phone. _People haven’t always been good to you. You said it yourself you thought I was putting you on the first time I came up to you. She doesn’t trust me, either._

_I can take care of myself, and she knows it,_ Ben wrote in reply. _*I* trust you. That’s all that matters._

Hux peeked at him over the screen, finding his expression soft and fond. _You’re an incredible person, Ben Solo,_ Hux typed.

Ben lifted his chin, signing: **I know.**

Hux shoved him, and Ben laughed. The sound drew Rey’s attention, her gaze falling critically on them again.

Hux signed to her: **Trust me**.

Her delicate nostrils flared, but she signed: **Okay**.

“Who’s hungry?” Finn asked as he and Phasma appeared again, carrying trays of hot dogs loaded with mustard and ketchup and pickle relish.

Hux hadn’t had one before, but when Phasma shoved it into his hands, he mustered his courage and took a bite. The chargrilled hot dog was savory, along with the ketchup and mustard, but the relish was sweet. It should have been disgusting, but it was remarkably tasty.

Ben put his down with startling speed while the others went at a slightly more sedate pace. Finn got mustard on his nose, which Rey wiped off with a wrinkled paper napkin. Phasma watched her do it with clear envy. Hux rolled his eyes, still baffled as to why she hadn’t just asked Rey to go out with her already. Maybe he’d ask her on Monday.

Finn gathered up their trash when they were finished eating and trotted down to the garbage can to throw it out. He paused to say hello to a couple of other students by the fence, both freshman girls who may or may not have also been in student council with him; Hux found it hard to keep track. The boy who did the morning announcements walked by with his girlfriend, who was the president of the drama club.

**Everyone’s here** , Hux signed to Ben.

Ben inclined his head, signing: **Even us**.

**Are you glad we came?** Hux asked.

Ben signed **Yes** and wrapped the blanket back around Hux’s shoulders.

The third quarter began with an impressive touchdown run for the Bears—followed by an extra point from the kicker—which put them fourteen points ahead of the Sentinels. The energy and excitement were beginning to seep into Hux, and he soon found himself letting out a few whoops when Poe threw a first-down pass. Ben stood up with him when the Bears scored again, clapping, too. The bleachers shook with everyone jumping up and down when the clock ran out and it was declared a Bears victory.

Poe was hoisted up on his teammates’ shoulders and carried off the field while fans flooded it to offer their congratulations. The cheerleaders fired confetti cannons into the stands. Hux caught a few pieces of the thin tissue paper confetti and dropped it onto the top of Ben’s head. Ben shook it off like a wet dog, making Hux laugh.

**You want to go?** Ben asked.

Hux nodded. To the others, he said, “We’re going to head out.”

“You sure you don’t want to come to the dance?” Finn said. “It’s only a semi-formal.”

“No,” said Hux. “We’ve other plans.”

Rey cocked a brow. “What plans?”

**We’re going to my house** , Ben signed to her. She raised her hands, but he kept on: **Don’t even start.**

Indignantly, she stuck her tongue out at him. He flipped her off.

“See you guys on Monday!” Phasma called as they started down the bleachers.

Hux gave her a last wave, nearly missing a step on the stairs in his inattention. Ben caught his arm and thankfully steadied him.

Han had agreed to pick them up out front of the school to avoid the worst of the game traffic, so they headed around the side of the building. As they stepped into the shadows, Ben latched onto Hux’s arm and pulled him against his chest. Hux, getting the idea right away, backed him up against the wall and pulled open the top snaps of his jacket to gain access to his neck. Hux nibbled up to his ear, catching the lobe between his teeth, as Ben scrabbled at his back, shoving Hux’s bag off of his shoulder and dropping it to the ground. The blanket and thermos followed.

Ben ducked his head until he could get Hux to kiss him, and right away his tongue was sliding into Hux’s mouth, insistent and hot. Hux made an approving sound, opening for him as he put his hands into Ben’s hair. They were ravenous and determined, going at each other with the desperation of a day apart. It shouldn’t have affected him as strongly as it did, but Hux wanted to spend as much time with Ben as he possibly could. And alone, they could do this.

They were pressed so closely together that Hux felt it when Ben’s phone started to vibrate in his jacket pocket. Ben’s hands were occupied—shoved up under Hux’s jumper—so Hux pulled the phone out. The screen said, in large white letters: DAD. Ben had told him that Han called when he really wanted Ben’s attention. He knew Ben couldn’t pick up the phone and talk to him, but a text message vibration could be overlooked; Ben was more likely to notice a call.

Showing Ben the screen, Hux started to draw back. Ben sighed, but took the phone and ended the call. He sent a quick message before picking up the discarded blanket and thermos. Hux grabbed his bag and they jogged around the corner to where Han’s Chevy was idling. Ben opened the back passenger door and slid inside, leaving Hux to follow him.

“Hey, guys,” Han said. He waved at Ben.

“Hello, Han,” Hux said. “Sorry we’re late.”

Han looked at him in the rearview mirror, grinning. “Somehow I don’t think you’re sorry, but I’ll take it. Buckle up.”

As they drove, Han talked with Hux about the game. Ben noticed that they were speaking, but didn’t pay attention; he was looking out the window. Hux might have thought he resented when Hux talked to others when Ben couldn’t be a part of the conversation, but he didn’t seem upset. If he wanted Hux’s attention, he would tap his shoulder or take his hand. For now, he seemed content just to let them chat.

The lights were on in the Solo house when they arrived. Han parked in the driveway. Leia came to the door as they opened it, and she greeted Hux with a smile.

“Did you two have fun at the game?” she asked him.

**It was a lot of fun** , Hux signed as he replied to her out loud.

**Good** , she signed back. **Are you hungry?**

They both shook their heads, Ben explaining that they had had hot dogs at the game. Leia said that if they got hungry later, they could always help themselves to anything in the kitchen.

**Are you going to watch a movie?** she signed.

**We’re going to my room** , Ben replied.

Leia pursed her lips. **Okay, but remember that Hux has to sleep downstairs.**

“They know, honey,” Han said, wrapping a long arm around her shoulders. “You two go on up.”

“Thank you,” said Hux as he went with Ben up the stairs.

Ben shut the door firmly behind them when they got to his room and offered to take Hux’s bag. He dropped it in the corner of the room before shucking his letterman jacket and going to the bed. He patted the spot beside him. Hux paused to take off his jumper, gloves, and shoes, and then crawled into bed next to Ben, tucking himself against his side. They couldn’t sign in that position, so they just sat together, the tips of Ben’s fingers brushing Hux’s upper arm through the undershirt he was wearing. Hux was content just to sit and feel Ben breathe, feel the steady thump of his heart.

After the din of the football game, it was wonderful to sit in silence and decompress. Hux glanced around Ben’s bedroom, alighting on Star Wars Lego sets on top of one of his bookshelves, a Mason jar full of spare change, and a laundry hamper half full of dirty clothes. On Ben’s small desk was a well-loved notebook, its corners bent and pages often-thumbed.

Picking up his phone, Hux texted, _Is that your writing notebook?_ He pointed.

_Yes,_ Ben replied.

_Have you been working on a particular story?_

Ben seemed reluctant to type anything else, and Hux almost texted him to change the topic, but then he sent a message: _Yeah, something about a soldier in a sci-fi war. I’ve only got the bare bones of it._

_Sounds exciting,_ Hux wrote. _Will you ever let me read anything you’ve written?_

_Maybe someday,_ Ben told him. _I don’t have anything ready at this point. But I promise I’ll show you eventually._

Hux rubbed his thigh. _There’s no pressure. I just want to share it with you, if you’ll let me._

Ben leaned closer and nuzzled Hux’s hair before replying, _I want to share everything with you._

They lapsed into silence for a while, venturing small touches, Hux looking over Ben’s ragged jeans. He didn’t want to get up, but he found himself in need of the toilet. Tapping Ben’s arm, Hux scooted away and toward the edge of the bed. **Bathroom** , he signed.

**Want to put on your pajamas?** Ben asked.

**Okay** , Hux replied. He detoured to his bag and pulled out the sleep trousers and t-shirt he had brought along. He considered for a split second whether Ben had meant for him to change in here, but he decided he’d better not. Taking his pajamas, he went across the hall to the bathroom.

When he came back in, Ben was lying against a pillow in bed, playing on his phone. He wore plaid sleep trousers, but his chest was bare. Hux tried not to stare too long as he dropped his clothes from the day on top of his bag and joined Ben on the bed again. Ben raised his arm for Hux to climb under, setting it over Hux’s shoulders. As Hux settled against him, Ben kissed his temple.

With his free hand, Ben unlocked his phone. Hux could see that he was on the home screen; it was littered with app icons. Underneath it, though, was something Hux recognized. Quickly, he grabbed Ben’s hand and turned the phone toward him. There, as his home screen wallpaper, was the selfie Hux had taken of himself and Millie three weeks ago. Hux pointed to it and then raised his brows at Ben. Ben looked away, abashed.

Relinquishing his hold on him, Hux picked up his phone and started to type. _How long have you had that as your wallpaper?_ he asked.

_Since you sent it to me,_ Ben replied. Hux blinked over at him, surprised—pleasantly. Ben continued, _I was so shocked you’d send me a picture like that. I mean, you don’t just send selfies to everyone, right?_

_No, I don’t,_ Hux said. He had barely ever sent any, as a matter of fact. _It’s not a very good picture, though. I’m not even smiling._

_Didn’t matter,_ said Ben. _It was you. I stared at it for a couple of minutes before I could even think of something to say back. I saved it and looked it at every day._

Hux admitted, _I’ve watched the videos of signs you sent to me more times than I can count just to see you in them._ He hoped it wasn’t too much to add, _I love watching your hands._

Ben read the text, but instead of replying, he dropped his phone on his thigh and held out his right hand, fingers splayed and palm open. Hux raised his and pressed it against Ben’s, showing just how much larger Ben’s was: longer and thicker fingers, broader palm. They stayed there for a time, until Ben went to pick up his phone again.

_I love watching your hands when you play piano,_ he typed. _They fly over the keys. And when you sign, too. I just like looking at you, to be honest. I think you’re really hot._

Hux snorted. That wasn’t exactly the descriptor he would have used for himself. He replied, _Thank you. I think the same of you._

To drive the point home, Hux touched the soft skin of Ben’s belly, inching ever-so-slightly up toward his chest. Track gave him a lean form, but as a sprinter he was more muscular than the distance runners. His sleep trousers were taut over his legs.

_Forgive me if I don’t believe you,_ Ben wrote.

_Whyever not?_ Hux asked.

Ben shifted uncomfortably, chewing his lower lip as he typed. _I’m not really good-looking. Not like you._

Hux shot him a look. _You actually believe that?_ Ben shrugged, so Hux kept on: _You’re very good-looking. You have lovely eyes and soft hair._ He stroked it with one hand, making Ben smile. _And the rest of you is nothing to scoff at._

_You really think so?_

Hux leaned over to him and raised his face so he could meet his eyes. He signed **Yes** right before he kissed him.

Phones were abandoned as they wrapped up in each other’s arms and kissed hungrily, the only sounds those of their slick mouths and Hux’s occasional sigh. It was heaven kissing Ben like this, just bound together and breathing each other’s air. His skin was smooth and warm under Hux’s hands, and Hux wanted to touch all of it. He kept himself in check, though, not wanting to do anything Ben wasn’t ready for. He _had_ been the one to leave his shirt off, of course, and damned if Hux wasn’t itching to take his off, too.

As if Ben could sense that, he began to slip his fingers under the hem of Hux’s shirt, easing it up to reach more of him. Hux shuddered as he brushed along his ribs, but Ben pulled back, brows knit.

**Okay?** he signed.

Hux nodded, taking him by the wrist and putting his hand back at his side. Ben resumed where he had left off, and Hux closed his eyes, resting his forehead against Ben’s shoulder. Ben explored his waist with his fingertips, dipping them into his navel for just a moment. Hux tried not to laugh; it tickled. Ben felt him tense, and withdrew. Tipping his face up, Hux asked wordlessly for another kiss, and Ben gave it.

Eventually, they came away from each other, finding themselves all but lying entwined on the mattress. Hux’s shirt was up around his chest and he was sprawled half across Ben’s body. Both of them were affected by it all, as Hux realized as he shifted his hips. Flushing, he moved away; Ben let him go. Hux sat up, taking a few deep breaths to get himself to calm down. His phone lit up, vibrating next to him.

_Was that too much?_ Ben had written.

_No,_ Hux replied. He deliberated before typing, _I stopped because I didn’t know exactly how far you wanted to go._

Confident enough he wouldn’t completely embarrass himself, he came around to face Ben, who was typing thoughtfully. When the response came through, it read: _I can’t say I haven’t thought about it...because I have. But you know I haven’t ever done anything, so I figured I’d kind of let you take the lead._

Hux glanced at him—reading his face—and found him composed, if a little pink in the cheeks. Hux wrote, _If you’re asking me about my experience, I can’t say I’ve done everything, but I know my way around. But I don’t want to do anything you’re not comfortable with. I’m in no hurry._

Ben looked a bit relieved at that, and Hux laid a hand on his thigh.

_I really like it when we make out and I get to hold you,_ Ben texted, _but I don’t want to go at a snail’s pace, either. If you want something from me, you can just tell me._

Hux wet his lips, tapping the edge of his phone with his thumb. He wouldn’t ask too much of Ben, but he wanted to encourage and reassure him. He decided on: _The only thing I really want tonight is to be here with you, but if you want to, you can take off my shirt._

Ben’s eyes darted over his phone screen as he read, and when he looked up at Hux, he was eager enough. Setting his phone to the side, he reached for the hem of Hux’s t-shirt, lifting it up and over his head. Hux was narrow-ribbed and skinny compared to Ben’s breadth, but he wasn’t shy about it. He stayed kneeling on the mattress, facing Ben without shame. Gently, Ben put his hands around Hux’s waist, holding him lightly but with intention.

Hux let Ben approach him at his own pace, coming close enough to bump his long nose against Hux’s sternum. When Hux laid his hand at the back of Ben’s head, Ben turned to rest his cheek over Hux’s heart. He stayed there, perfectly still, for a while before he sighed deeply and began to nuzzle his way up to Hux’s shoulder, his neck, under his jaw. He landed soft, dry kisses there, too, until Hux was groaning and holding him tighter. Ben felt the vibrations of his voice and smiled, seeking his lips again.

Twenty minutes later, Hux was shaking with the effort of controlling himself and finally had to ease himself away. When Ben looked disappointed, Hux gestured between his legs and signed: **Uncomfortable**.

Ben winced in sympathy, quickly adjusting himself before the front of his pajama pants was completely tented. **Sorry** , he signed. **We can stop.**

Hux nodded, picking up his phone again. _Do you mind if we take a break at least?_

_Sure,_ Ben typed in reply. He shifted position, coming up to sit against the pillow again rather than lying down. Hux followed suit, tucking himself under Ben’s arm.

_I’m glad your parents let me stay over,_ Hux wrote. _This feels so good._

_I know,_ Ben texted. _If someone had told me five weeks ago that I’d be in my bed with you tonight, I would have told them off. There was no way I was going to be that lucky._

Hux said, _I’m so sorry I upset you that first time I came to say hello. I felt truly awful about it all of the rest of the day and through the night._

Ben rubbed Hux’s shoulder as if to comfort him, but he wrote: _When I figured someone had put you up to it, I couldn’t deal. I held it together at school, but when I got home, I came up here and hid. I’m not proud of it, but I cried. I didn’t want you to be like that._

Hux’s heart clenched in his chest. He hated to imagine Ben curled up on this very bed crying over him. Hux felt it like physical pain; he never wanted that to happen again.

_I’m so sorry,_ Hux wrote. _I can’t say it enough, or write it enough, or sign it enough. I never, ever want you to hurt because of me._

Ben hugged him tightly, kissing the crown of his head. _That next day when you showed up again, I was so angry. I thought you were just making fun of me. But then you signed. It was like the whole world stopped. You were the center of everything because you did what nobody else ever had. You weren’t out to be mean to me; it wasn’t a joke. Hope was like a fire in me right then. I thought maybe—just maybe—you were better. When I went home that night, it was the exact opposite of the night before. If I thought I had liked you earlier, I was totally lost after that._

Hux paused to turn his face up and meet Ben’s eyes. They shone with the affection Hux felt in equal measure.

_I was so afraid you didn’t like me like that,_ Hux wrote. _I was ready to accept it, but when you showed me the sign for “kiss,” it was like fireworks in my chest._

_I was so amazed when you told me you were gay,_ Ben said. _That you trusted me with that was huge, but it also made me think that I might actually have a shot with you. I wanted to tell you I was gay, too, but I totally lost my nerve. I tried to figure out for days afterward how to bring it up again. I was trying to be careful and see if I could figure out if you liked me for those first couple of weeks. I got a few hints, I thought, but I was still too freaked out to say anything. I showed you that sign because I was at a total loss for what to do._

Hux nestled closer to him, nudging his shoulder with his nose. _I told you because it’s not something I necessarily hide, but I also wanted you to know...just in case. It didn’t take long for me to realize I wanted more than friendship._

Ben sighed, touching Hux’s thigh briefly before going back to texting. _I said it once and I’ll keep saying it: I’m so lucky you saw me._

_We’re both lucky,_ said Hux. _You’re incredible._

They sat there together in the quiet for a few minutes, Hux digesting all of what had been admitted. Ben was so good, so dear; Hux was elated to have him.

When Ben texted again, he asked, _Do you actually want to watch something?_

Hux wouldn’t mind a film, as long as they were together watching it. He wrote, _Didn’t you once say something about Bill and Tom?_

Ben laughed. _Bill and *Ted*. And yeah! We can totally watch Excellent Adventure. Let’s go downstairs. I’ll make popcorn and we can watch on the big TV._

He rolled off of the bed and tossed Hux’s shirt to him, pulling on one of his own. They went barefoot down to the kitchen, where there was a single light on over the stove. Ben pulled a package of popcorn from the cabinet and put it into the microwave.

**Where are your parents?** Hux asked. **It’s not even ten o’clock.**

**Upstairs probably** , Ben replied. **Does it matter?**

**No**.

When the popcorn was done, Ben poured it into a plastic bowl and pushed it into Hux’s hands. He pulled two bottles of water from the refrigerator, leading the way into the living room. It took a little searching in the nearby bookcase to find the DVD, but then Ben was putting it into the player and coming back to sit with Hux on the sofa. They put the popcorn between them to munch on as they watched.

Ben was just pressing play when Han appeared from the basement, wiping his hands on an oily rag. He took one look at the screen and said, “Bill and Ted! Excellent!”

Ben signed to him: **Come watch. I know you love it.**

**You sure?** Han asked. He grinned. **You don’t want to be alone?**

**We’re okay** , Ben replied.

Han tossed the rag down the stairs and shut the basement door, taking up a place in the easy chair adjacent to the sofa. He heaved a big sigh and signed: **You can start.**

Ben settled his right arm around Hux’s shoulders, and Hux turned his attention to the film.

 

****

 

They ended up watching both of the Bill and Ted films, and it was after one o’clock in the morning when they were finished. Han had fallen asleep in his chair about halfway through _Bogus Journey_ , and Hux and Ben had taken advantage of some of that time to ignore the film, too, for the sake of each other. Hux was dozing, though, as the credits rolled, leaning heavily on Ben’s side.

**Ready to sleep?** Ben signed when he got up to turn the TV off.

Hux gave a sleepy nod. **I’ll stay here.**

**I’ll get you some blankets.**

Ben first went to wake his father, who shuffled off upstairs with a “Goodnight, Hux” as he went. In the nearby closet, there were folded blankets, two of which Ben brought to Hux. He laid the first over the cushions and then waited for Hux to lie down before covering him with the second one.

**Goodnight** , Hux signed.

Ben kissed him lightly on the lips and signed back: **Goodnight.**

After he had gone, Hux lay on his back on the sofa looking up into the darkness. There was a streetlight outside that offered some illumination, but it was dim through the sheer curtains over the living room windows. The sofa wasn’t uncomfortable, but Hux had trouble sleeping. Unable to think of anything else to do, he pulled out his phone and started scrolling through some websites, killing time. There was nothing of particular interest, so he navigated to his messages and deliberated sending one to Ben.

_Are you awake?_ he could ask. But he didn’t send anything, instead just setting his phone to the side and trying to close his eyes.

Eventually, he did fall asleep, but it was only lightly. He woke easily when he heard the creak of the stairs from the entryway. He waited, assuming it was someone coming down for a glass of water, but he didn’t hear the sink in the kitchen running. In fact, he heard nothing at all. It wasn’t until he saw a familiar silhouette that he realized it was Ben.

The dark was far too thick for them to sign, but Hux didn’t think that’s what he was here for anyway. Hux sat up some, hoping Ben might realize that he was awake, too. He didn’t know if he had succeeded, but Ben sank down onto his knees next to the sofa and tentatively put his hands out to feel if Hux was there. Hux reached up to catch his hand and squeeze it.

In silence, Ben leaned closer, until he was resting his head on the cushion beside Hux’s arm. Hux could just make him out, and he used the scant light to find his way to Ben’s hair, stroking it as Ben knelt beside him. There was nothing whispered, nothing signed; they just stayed where they were, Hux cradling Ben’s head and running his fingers through his hair. Ben gently drew amorphous shapes on Hux’s shoulder with his fingertip, occasionally moving closer, until he was resting on Hux’s chest, his weight significant but welcome.

Hux was a fool for him already. Ben had him completely at his mercy, and for the first time in his life, he thought about someone as much as he thought about music. Hux wanted to keep him, hold onto him for as long as Ben would have him. He hoped—God, he _hoped_ —that that would be for a long time.

Eventually, Ben lifted his head; Hux let him go reluctantly. A warm hand curled around Hux’s chin, Ben’s thumb over his lips. Hux kissed the pad. And then Ben was gone, getting up and going back up the stairs. Hux might have thought he still wouldn’t have been able to sleep afterwards, but as soon as he closed his eyes, he was resting.

 

****

 

In the morning, Han made pancakes, eggs, and bacon for everyone. Leia had already left that morning for her trip abroad. Han, Hux, and Ben sat around the small kitchen table and ate in mostly silence, though Han asked how Hux had slept down on the sofa.

“Fine, thank you,” he said as he pushed eggs onto his fork.

Ben was already dressed in his track uniform when he came downstairs, and Hux only had to duck upstairs to splash some water over his face, brush his teeth, and change into appropriate clothes to watch the track meet before he was ready to leave. He brought his bag along so he could go straight home after the meet was over.

Ben stopped him in the entryway, chewing his cheek as if uncertain. **Will you do something for me?** he signed.

**Anything** , Hux replied.

Pulling his letterman jacket down from the coat rack, Ben held it out to him. Hux took it, curious.

**Finn always wears Poe’s jacket to the football games** , Ben said. **I thought maybe you could wear mine.**

Hux read the letters on the jacket— _Ben Solo_ —and slung it over his shoulders. He’d be proud to wear it, and he signed that to Ben. Ben beamed.

Han, coming in from the kitchen, saw what they were about and winked at Hux. **Going steady?** he signed, teasing.

Hux smiled at him as he took Ben’s hand and they went together out to the car.

They saw Ben off to join the team when they got to the track, Hux and Han going over to the stands to get a seat. It wasn’t anywhere near as packed as it had been for the football game, but that was no surprise.

“So, Hux,” Han said as they sat down on the chilly metal bleachers, “as a dad, I’ve got to ask you what your intentions are for my son.” He played it off lightly, but Hux could tell he was sincere. “Is this a fling, or do you see it as something more?”

After last night, Hux could safely say that it was something more. “I care about him very much,” he said. “If he’ll put up with me, I’d like to see this last.”

Han set his palms on his knees, blowing out a breath. “Boy, I was hoping you’d say that, because Ben’s all in. He’s crazy about you.” He gestured to the jacket Hux wore. “And he wants everybody to know it.”

Hux’s face warmed, but he wasn’t shy. “I’d like them to know, too,” he said.

“That’s how it should be when you’re young,” said Han. “You’re a good kid, Hux, and if you’re good to Ben, he’ll give you everything he’s got.” He scratched his scruffy chin. “He said you’re taking classes at Skywalker. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Hux said. “With his uncle and Rey.”

Han nodded. “Luke’s a good teacher. Good guy, if a little serious. Did Ben tell you that he and Leia didn’t know each other until college?”

Hux’s brows rose. “No, he didn’t.”

“Well,” Han continued, “they were both adopted out as kids, but to different homes. Luke grew up on the east coast here, and Leia in California. She went on a kick when she was an undergraduate to find out about her biological parents. She found out she had a twin brother and that he was at school at USC. She reached out to him and they met up. She had no idea he was deaf until they met. It made getting to know each other hard, but they tried for a while.”

He shifted in his seat, crossing his arms. “I met her our senior year, but only ever heard about Luke. I didn’t know ear infections ran in the family, either, until Ben was born and started coming down with them. The same thing happened to Luke, you see. Anyway, we were lucky we had Luke to help us out after Ben lost his hearing. We would have been up shit creek without him.”

“He taught you ASL?” Hux asked.

“Sure did,” Han replied. “Chewie helped, too. He’s mute. Hears just fine, but hasn’t said a word since his parents died.”

“I didn’t know that,” said Hux. “But he’s your business partner?”

“Yep. He’s handles the books for the most part. I do the flying and the negotiations.” Han chuckled. “I was hoping Ben would show some interest in the family business, but he never has. I don’t blame him. He’s smart as a whip and should do something more with his life.”

“Like writing,” Hux said. He wanted to clap a hand over his mouth, having forgotten Ben didn’t tell many people about his stories.

Fortunately, it seemed that Han knew. “Yeah, definitely. Or maybe he’ll be an English professor. Never known a kid who reads more. Whatever he does, though, he’ll be good at it.” He cocked a brow. “He says you’re interested in Juilliard.”

“Yes,” said Hux. “I intend to be a professional pianist.”

“Sounds like a good goal, kiddo,” Han told him. “I wish you the best.”

“Thank you” was all Hux could think to say.

The runners from the various schools competing were warming up, and Hux kept his eye on Ben. He still wore his headphones, focused on his stretches rather than the other students.

Hux was still watching him when he heard a familiar voice say “Good morning.” He turned to see Luke Skywalker standing on the nearby stairs, smiling at him and Han.

Han jumped to his feet and held out his hand for Luke to shake. Once that was done, he signed: **Sit down. We saved you a spot.**

Luke took the place beside Hux. **Hello, Hux,** he signed. **Nice jacket.**

Hux signed: **It’s Ben’s.**

**I know** , Luke told him. **It’s good of you to come see him run.**

**I came to the last home meet** , Hux signed. **I want to support him.**

Luke’s smile went all the way up to his eyes. **Ben’s a special person, and he deserves someone just as special. I think he’s found that in you.**

**I hope so** , Hux signed.

Uncle Chewie appeared a few minutes later, as did Rey, looking tired.

“How was the dance?” Hux asked her.

“Super fun,” she replied. “You and Ben missed out.” She eyed him slyly. “Though I bet you had a pretty good time at his house anyway.”

Hux said, “We absolutely did.”

Rey sighed. “I’ve been trying to find something wrong with you or wrong with how you treat Ben, but there isn’t much. Even my dad likes you. I guess I have to admit there’s nothing wrong with you and Ben being together.”

Hux fired back: “When are you going to ask Phasma out?”

“I...um…” she stammered. “Do you think she’d actually go out with me?”

“Of course she would,” said Hux. “If you don’t ask her, I’ll have to force her to ask you. There’s no need to go dancing around each other when you both know you want the same thing.”

Rey glanced down, but then back up, brightly. “Okay, okay. I’ll ask her.”

Hux gave a curt, satisfied nod. “Good.”

The announcer came over the loudspeaker to open the events. They all stood for the national anthem and then the races began. Ben’s first sprint was fourth in line, and when he ran, the whole family got to their feet to cheer him on. “Cheer” wasn’t exactly it, though; they didn’t make a sound. Instead, they just watched eagerly until he crossed the finish line in first place. When he looked up at the stands, they were all signing their applause. He waved before going back to join the rest of the team.

Between events, they carried on a conversation half signed and half spoken, depending on who was being addressed. Hux tried to follow the faster, more complicated signs Chewie, Han, and Luke used, but he couldn’t always. Rey would break some of them down for him when she realized how attentive he was.

“You’re doing really well,” she told him after he mimicked the phrase she had just shown him. “You’ll be fluent someday if you keep practicing.”

“I plan to be,” Hux said.

“For Ben?”

“For both of us.”

It was after noon by the time the meet came to a close and the winning team was announced. It was Hoth High School, but Ben had won all of his races for Endor Cross. He had three medals around his neck when the family went down to collect him after the ceremony.

**Good job, kid** , Han signed to him before going in for a hug.

 Ben pushed him away, signing, **Don’t. I’m sweaty.**

Han ignored him and squeezed his shoulders anyway. He got a high five and flurry of congratulatory signs from Rey, a clap on the shoulder from Luke, and a **Good job** from Chewie. Hux approached, and while he didn’t hug him, he leaned in and kissed his cheek. Ben’s smile was radiant.

**Let’s get you home and showered** , Han teased after Hux moved away.

Ben signed: **We have to take Hux home first.**

Everyone walked down to the parking lot together, but parted to go to their separate cars. Han drove to Hux’s house, stopping at the curb outside. When Hux got out, he went to take off Ben’s jacket, but Ben stopped him.

**Give it back to me in school tomorrow** , he signed.

**Okay** , Hux signed. **Text me later?**

Ben nodded and gave him a brief kiss on the mouth. **See you tomorrow**.

Hux headed up to the house, waving by the door before he went inside. Maratelle was on the sofa with her laptop in the living room, and she perked up at the sight of him.

“Hello, Armitage,” she said. “Did you have a fun weekend?”

Hux was quick to reply, “It was one of the best I’ve ever had.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Illustrations from this chapter:  
> [Ben rests his head on Hux's chest](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/174854085690/koujaaku-setting-his-phone-to-the-side-he) by koujaaku  
> [Hux and Ben together](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/175018355895/nadiasna7-these-are-moments-from-allemande) by [nadiasna7](https://nadiasna7.tumblr.com/)


	7. Seventh Movement

Hux didn’t end up giving Ben his jacket back on Monday. He wore it through the rest of October, before it started to get too cold and he needed something thicker. Ben took it from him then, telling him that it now smelled like Hux.

_I don’t mean that in a creepy serial killer way,_ Ben texted him. _I just like the way you smell._

After homecoming, they began to see more of Phasma, Finn, and Poe. Phasma helped Ben with his maths at the Daily Grind, which raised his test scores considerably. They had their group Skype chat for those meetings, but she also gave him her phone number and started a group message with him and Hux just for fun. She came by sometimes at lunch to see them, though she never gave them a heads-up and just appeared with the gossip from around campus. She made a point to speak slowly and look directly at Ben when she did, and in turn he would reply to her aloud.

Finn started to come over to Ben’s desk during homeroom, where Hux usually visited with him in the morning before the bell rang. He tended to speak faster than Phasma did, and sometimes Ben struggled to follow what he was saying. Hux would interpret as best he could with his still-limited vocabulary of signs. Ben usually got the message, but more often than not he signed to Hux rather than speaking directly to Finn. Chipper and never in a bad mood, Finn didn’t seem to mind. He joined the group chat with Phasma a week after the football game.

Poe was the busiest of the group, with the football championships coming up, but he joined the chat, too, and usually had everyone laughing. He and Finn had asked Ben and Hux to come along on a tremendously cliché double date, where they went to get milkshakes and split one between them, fighting over who got the whipped cream and who got the cherry. Ben ended up getting both on his and Hux’s milkshake.

On Halloween, Phasma invited them to join her and Rey—who had finally asked her out to coffee the week before—for a movie night at her house. They watched a bunch of classic horror movies, along with _A Quiet Place_ , which featured a lot of sign language. Ben and Hux snuggled up together on the sofa, idly brushing hands every so often. Ben told him as they were walking home afterward that he was grateful.

**They’re nice to me** , he had signed. **I didn’t think they’d want to be friends with me.**

**Of course they do** , Hux had signed in reply. **They like you.**

Ben had stopped him on the sidewalk and signed: **Thank you, Hux. Everything’s better with you here.**

October transitioned into November, bringing the first snows and a few cozy afternoons spent at Hux’s house, Ben watching him play piano or just sitting and doing his homework while Hux worked on Bach’s French Suite. They weren’t permitted another sleepover, but most weekends they spent their Sundays together. When they weren’t in the same room, they texted. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about, finding new common ground over movies, books, and even music. Ben said Han had a large stereo system from his college days set up in the basement, and, sometimes, Ben would put on songs Hux said he liked and turn up the volume enough to feel the vibrations of the bass. He had even shyly admitted that he had started to move to the beat, a tentative kind of dancing. He refused to show Hux, though.

“Anyone can learn to dance if they have a strong partner,” Maratelle had told Hux one evening when they were discussing dance at the dinner table. She had smiled at Hux over her wine glass. “You could teach Ben.”

Hux had chewed his cheek. “I don’t know if he would like it. He’s self-conscious about that kind of thing sometimes.”

Maratelle had shrugged. “Just an idea, dear heart.”

Both she and Brendol had gotten used to Ben being around, though he rarely stayed for dinner. It was still hard for him to follow along in conversations, and he wasn’t all that comfortable speaking with them. Hux didn’t blame him and neither did his parents. Still, they greeted him warmly when he was in the house and Maratelle even learned a few signs to say hello and goodbye to him.

Ben’s mother was often away for her job and if Han wasn’t around, either, Ben’s “uncle” Chewie would come over to stay with him, or Rey and Luke would be by to visit so he wasn’t on his own. Ben said he was glad for the company, but had once or twice lamented the fact that there was always someone around so he and Hux couldn’t have the house to themselves.

Their interest in each other physically hadn’t died down; it had only grown, and they were quickly getting bored with keeping their clothes on. They didn’t dare get up to anything more than kissing and maybe taking off their shirts when people were home, though. Ben’s parents afforded them some privacy, but they didn’t want to be caught out in a compromising situation by one of them.

The previous weekend, they had been tangled up in Ben’s bed again, neither of them afraid of showing their bodies’ reactions anymore and taking advantage of the friction they could enjoy while still dressed, when Ben had made a strangled sound and gone taut. Hux had pulled back, concerned. Ben’s face was as red as Hux had ever seen it and he had quickly gotten out of bed and fled the room for the bathroom across the hall. Hux, for a moment, didn’t know what he had done wrong, but slowly it began to dawn on him. Oh. _Oh._

He had gone into Ben’s closet and pulled out another pair of tattered jeans and a set of boxers and taken them to the bathroom. The door was firmly shut, but Hux used the switch on the outside to flash the lights. A few seconds went by, but then Ben cracked the door open and peeked out. Hux had signed **It’s okay** and offered the change of clothes. Ben had taken them and shut the door again. Hux had returned to his bedroom and waited.

When Ben had come back in, he was barely able to meet Hux’s eyes, so Hux rose and went to him, touching his face.

**It’s okay** , Hux signed again. **Don’t be embarrassed.**

Ben looked almost on the verge of tears. **I’m sorry** , he signed. **I couldn’t stop.**

Hux kissed him lightly before he went to pick up his phone. He texted, _It’s all right, really. Sometimes you just can’t control it. Don’t be ashamed._

_It’s pretty pathetic,_ Ben replied forlornly. _You’ve never done that, have you?_

Hux hadn’t, but he had moved much faster at Arkanis. _No, but it doesn’t bother me._ He gave Ben an earnest half-smile. _In fact, I kind of liked it._

Ben scowled at him, signing: **Don’t lie.**

**I’m not lying** , Hux insisted. He went back to his phone for lack of the appropriate signs. _It’s getting really difficult for me to hold back, too, okay? It’s not just you._

Ben sat down at the edge of the bed, shoulders hunched. _I still feel stupid and weak, but you make me crazy. In the best way._

Hux took the place beside him, rubbing his back. _You do that to me, too. If you want, we can make it even._

Ben shot him a look. **Seriously?** he signed.

Hux scooted back on the bed and crooked his finger at him.

Ben didn’t go immediately, instead texting, _You don’t have a change of underwear._

_I’ll wear yours,_ Hux had said.

**Hell yes** , Ben had signed as he had crept across the bed and lay over him.

Hux had left the house an hour later very pleased with himself, and had gotten a sly look from Han. He’d be damned if that man didn’t see right through him.

Hux had called him during the following week to make the last-minute arrangements for the trip to New York City. True to his word, Han had promised Ben an outing on the seventeenth of November, but had told him nothing in particular about it. Hux had made plans for the entire day, from purchasing the train tickets for both of them and making reservations at Millennium, a restaurant Maratelle had recommended. She actually made the reservation, and also made special arrangements with the hostess to make sure Hux could use and sign for her credit card there. She had used it to help him with the train fare, too.

“I’ll give you one hundred dollars for the day,” she had told him once the tickets were booked. “I think that should be enough.”

“It will be,” Hux had said. “Thank you, Maratelle.”

She had touched his shoulder. “Of course, dear. Everyone should have special days with their special someone.”

On the appointed Saturday morning, Hux tucked the twenty-dollar bills Maratelle had given him into his wallet along with her credit card and slipped it into his pocket. Brendol was having coffee in the living room and said little as Hux passed him by. Maratelle had on her jacket and held the keys to the Lexus in her hand.

“Off we go,” she said.

They got to the Endor Cross train station early—a few minutes before eight, when Hux had told Han to bring Ben. Maratelle waited with him just outside the indoor seating area. She had been hoping to meet Han, whom Hux had mentioned before.

He pulled up promptly at eight o’clock, stopping beside the platform. Ben saw Hux right away and hurried out of the car. He signed: **What are you doing here?**

**Surprise!** Hux signed back. **We’re going to the city. You and me.**

Ben turned to Han, who winked at him. He, too, signed: **Surprise.**

Ben’s smile was stunning, and he yanked Hux into a long hug. Han made his way over to where Maratelle was standing and offered his hand. She shook it demurely as she introduced herself. To Hux and Ben, Han said, “Well, we’ll let you two get to it. No sense in having your old man hang around to see you off. Have fun today.”

They both signed: **Thank you.**

Rounding the station house, Ben took Hux’s hand and drew him in for a kiss. **This is amazing** , he signed. **How long have you been planning this?**

**Since last month** , Hux replied.

Ben grinned broadly at him before kissing him again. **You’re the best boyfriend I’ve ever had.**

**I’m the only boyfriend you’ve ever had** , Hux signed.

Ben nodded. **Still the best.**

Hux heard the train just as he saw it approaching the platform, and he pulled out his phone with their electronic tickets. Both of them stepped up onto the train and into the nearest car, picking two seats by a window. Nobody came by immediately to check their tickets, so Hux opened up his messages instead.

_It’s a good surprise?_ he asked Ben.

_The best,_ Ben replied. _What are we going to do there?_ He eyed Hux. _I bet you have a whole schedule._

Hux made a face. _Not a *whole* schedule, but I had some ideas. Have you ever ridden the ferry to Brooklyn Bridge Park?_

Ben shook his head. _Is it fun?_

_It is. There’s a nice place to get ice cream during the summer, but it’s probably closed right now. We can just walk around there. It’s picturesque._

_It’s funny,_ Ben typed, _but you might know more about the city than I do, and I’ve lived here almost my entire life._ He chewed his lower lip. _I guess I don’t get out much._

_You’ll have ample time to travel when you graduate,_ Hux wrote. _Maybe you could take a year off before college and go to Europe._

Ben didn’t seem convinced. _You’re going straight into Juilliard, aren’t you?_

_If I can get in,_ Hux said.

_You will,_ Ben told him. _You’re an incredible musician and you work really hard. They’d be stupid not to take you._

Hux smiled. _Thank you for believing in me. I hope you’re right._

_Would you move to the city if you got in?_ Ben asked.

_Probably_ , Hux replied. _The courses are too intense to commute. And it might be exciting to live in New York proper._

_I bet,_ Ben said. _I’ve looked at NYU’s English program before. They have a creative writing track._

Hux gave him a bright look. _Really? That’s exciting! Are you going to apply next fall?_

_I might give it a shot. I’d be freaking out if I actually sent my writing for someone to look at, but I guess there’s no harm in trying, right?_

_None,_ Hux wrote. _I think you should._ He hesitated, but then typed: _If you went to NYU, we’d be in the city together._

Ben glanced up from his phone, studying Hux’s face. The corners of his mouth quirked up just slightly. _You’re thinking that far ahead?_

Hux averted his eyes, but forced himself to write: _Is that the wrong thing to do?_

_No,_ Ben replied. _I just thought it was only me doing that. Most high school couples barely make it a few months before it blows over and they’re on to the next thing._

_It’s not like that for Poe and Finn,_ Hux typed.

_That’s true,_ Ben conceded. _But they’re pretty unique. They’re the kind of high school sweethearts that’ll probably get married._

Hux chuckled. _Could be. But who knows? People change a lot over the years._

_I know, but sometimes they change together rather than apart._ He put a gentle hand on Hux’s knee, texting with the other hand. _But I’m not going to think too far ahead too fast if that’s not what you want._

_We’ll both have to agree not to do that, then,_ Hux said. _Let’s concentrate on today, shall we?_

The train pulled into Grand Central Terminal at just past nine o’clock, and Hux and Ben disembarked to make their way through the station and onto the street. The sidewalks were packed, and Hux took Ben’s hand to keep him close. It was a few blocks to where they were going: a street market that was set up every Saturday and Hux often passed on his way to Rae’s studio for his lessons. Always having been with his father, he had never gone in to see the vendors’ stalls. Today, he was going to change that.

Ben trotted along next to him, but his eyes were turned up to the people and buildings around them. He seemed as enchanted with the city as most new visitors were. He was going to love the explosion of color at the street market. As they rounded the corner into the space where the stalls were, he lit up with interest.

**What’s this?** he asked, briefly letting go of Hux’s hand.

Hux had spent the past month memorizing the signs he would need to tell Ben about the places they were going, and had even asked Luke during their classes to help him along with them.

**It’s a market** , Hux signed. **They have everything here.**

**Cool** , Ben signed. **Can we look around?**

**Of course. That’s the point.**

Together, they started down the first row of stalls. The nearest vendor was selling handmade knitted fingerless gloves in all colors, the patterns ranging from snowflakes to somewhat amorphous reindeer. Neither Hux nor Ben were wearing gloves, since both of them found it difficult to sign with them encumbering their movement. Ben picked up a glove, though, and pulled it on, wiggling his fingers. Hux tried on a pair, too, but found the wool itchy. He set them down again and thanked the vendor.

The next table was covered in snarky and clever buttons for backpacks and jackets. A good deal of them were political, but there were also many emblazoned with comic book characters Hux vaguely recognized. One corner of the table had buttons dedicated music, which Hux was drawn to. Some had the treble or bass clefs on them and other instruments. Ben picked up one with piano keys on it and, producing a five-dollar bill, handed it to the vendor. She made his change and he pushed it back into his pocket. Carefully, he pinned the button to the lapel of Hux’s peacoat.

**Thank you** , Hux signed.

There was the requisite stall with ponchos and rainbow-colored hats, and a few stalls selling different kinds of antiques. Hux picked up a couple of objects, puzzled. The vendor was kind enough explain it was a tool for pulling on knee-high boots like the kind horseback riders wore.

**Have you ever ridden a horse?** Ben signed to Hux.

Hux signed: **No. I was too busy with piano.**

**It looks hard** , Ben continued. **But I’d like to try someday.** **There are a lot of things I want to try.**

Hux could understand that. He, too, didn’t get out a lot, other than the trips abroad during the summers when he had a brief break from his piano lessons. There were many things he could still experience in his life, and he liked the idea of having Ben along to try them.

They went along to the next stall, where the vendor was selling knock-off designer bags. They looked fairly convincing, other than the fact that the logo was backwards. He and Ben laughed about it and moved on.

A vendor in a popup tent had a variety of quirky greeting cards and postcards. One of them had a pretty print of a blackbird and on the inside just said “Fuck you.” Ben picked up one with a picture of Jesus holding a hot dog and a hamburger. He quirked a brow and Hux shrugged.

“How are you two today?” the vendor, a woman with her gray hair fastened up in banana clips, asked. She addressed Ben, who looked to Hux.

“We’re very well, thank you,” Hux replied.

“Looking for anything in particular?”

“Not really,” he said. “Just looking around. These are clever.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Been doing it for twenty years. Before you kids were born to be sure.” She chuckled. “You from out of town?”

“Connecticut,” said Hux. “Not far.”

She smiled, flashing tobacco-stained teeth. “Just in the city for the day, then?”

Hux nodded. Ben had been watching them, presumably reading their lips. He signed to Hux: **She’s nosy.**

Hux replied, **It’s fine. But I had better buy a card.**

He picked one of the more tasteful ones with “Thank you” on the inside. He’d give it to Luke when the ASL course was finished. He paid the vendor and then he and Ben wandered out of her stall.

They passed through the rest of the market, stopping to get a bag of candied almonds, which Ben said he loved. He ate most of them, with Hux taking only one handful. At one of the last tables, a man in a thick sweater was selling leather-bound notebooks with intricate designs on the covers and spines. Ben wiped his sugary fingers on a napkin before approaching and picking up one of the notebooks. He was plainly admiring it, unwinding the string that held it closed and leafing through the thick, blank pages.

“That one’s one of my favorites,” said the gruff vendor. “Took me about two weeks to do the cover. The binding’s all done by hand.”

Ben wasn’t paying attention to his lips; he was looking at the notebook instead. Hux didn’t know the signs for what the vendor had told him so he pulled out his phone and typed what he had said into a text that he sent to Ben.

Ben set the book down to check his phone, glancing at Hux gratefully after he had read it. _It’s beautiful,_ Ben wrote back. _Will you ask him how much it costs?_

“How much is it?” Hux said to the vendor.

“Forty-five,” he replied.

Ben read him clearly enough and his face fell. **Too much** , he signed to Hux.

That was almost half of what Maratelle had given Hux for the day, and it would leave them with only a little to use for the rest of it, but the way Ben looked at the notebook had Hux pulling out his wallet.

**Don’t** , Ben signed, trying to stop him.

Hux pushed his hands away. **I want to.**

He handed the vendor the cash, and the man picked up the journal and wrapped it up in tissue paper before slipping it into a plastic bag. He held it out to Ben rather than Hux.

“This is going to a good home,” he said with a crooked smile. “I can see just by looking at you, son.”

Ben signed **Thank you** and Hux interpreted for the vendor.

As they walked away, Ben signed, **You didn’t have to do that.**

**I know** , Hux replied. **But I wanted to.**

Ben stopped him at the edge of the market and kissed him lightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Hux saw one woman give them a dirty look, but a young man in a red and black plaid shirt grinned as he passed them by. Ben pulled back, but Hux drew him back in for another kiss before they walked on.

**Where are we going next?** Ben asked.

**It’s a surprise** , Hux replied. **But we have to take the bus.**

The stop wasn’t far away, and the buses came every few minutes, so they didn’t have to wait long. They paid their fare as they went aboard. There wasn’t space to sit, but they weren’t going more than twenty blocks. It was a fairly straight shot to their destination.

They swayed with the movement of the bus, hanging onto the railing, until they reached their stop. Hux had to push his way through a few people, but they got off without scathe and headed off in the direction of his next surprise for Ben: Strand Bookstore was a massive place selling new, used, and rare books, and as soon as Ben saw it, his face lit up.

**Books?** he signed.

Hux grinned as they crossed the street and entered the store. It smelled of that unique ink and paper scent that seemed to cling to all bookstores, and there were people milling around, what appeared to be both locals and tourists.

**Where should we start?** Hux asked. **I’m following you.**

**I have no idea** , Ben replied. Still, he picked a direction and set off, leading them to the shelves of new releases in literary fiction.

Hux went with him, but he watched Ben’s reactions more than he perused the books. He made a show of picking a few up and reading the synopses, yet he kept his eyes on Ben’s keen interest in everything he was seeing. Hux didn’t know too many signs for discussing literature, so he resorted to his phone.

_See anything you like?_ he texted.

_I like *everything*,_ Ben replied. _I wish I had all the free time in the world to just read. It makes you a better writer to read people you admire._

_I have no doubt of that,_ Hux said. _Watching and listening to other pianists helps me._

Ben nodded absently, but he was already focused on another book on the shelf. Hux wasn’t offended; this wasn’t about him.

Eventually, they left the new releases and went to the sections of used books. As they walked through, Ben texted: _I love used books. They all have a story of someone who read them before. You’ll never know it, but it’s there. I wrote a story about a book that passed from person to person once. It was a year ago, but I was pretty proud of it back then._

_I’m sure it’s good,_ Hux wrote.

Ben paused at a section of historical fiction, running his finger along a book’s creased spine. The title was _Regeneration._ He pulled it out to read the back, then opened to the first few pages.

_Look interesting?_ Hux asked.

_It’s about World War I_ , Ben replied. _And it looks amazing._

_You should get it._

Ben checked the price on the inside cover. **Not today** , he signed.

They continued on for nearly an hour, Ben raptly exploring the shelves. Hux’s attention wandered to the other patrons in the shop; he wondered what brought them in and where they came from. They all had a story, too, just like the used books.

**Are you bored?** Ben signed after a while. **You look bored.**

**I’m not** , Hux half-lied.

Ben smiled, seeing the untruth; he was very keen at reading Hux’s expressions. **We can go. Do you want to get lunch?**

Hux’s stomach rumbled, but he signed, **Are you going to buy something? You should.** He fought hard to remember the sign Luke had taught him. He tried: **Memory**.

“Souvenir?” Ben asked aloud.

Hux nodded.

Ben showed him the signs for it. He added at the end: **I guess I could get something.**

He led Hux back to the literary fiction and chose a novel called _The Fountain Overflows_. He wrote on his phone: _It’s about a family that plays music. It says the mother used to be a concert pianist. It’s a good souvenir of my day with you_ **.**

Hux’s chest filled, and he smiled. **I like that** , he signed.

They checked out at one of the counters. Hux made some smalltalk with the employee checking them out while Ben paid silently. He added the book to the bag that held his new notebook as they left the store.

Hux hadn’t picked a place for lunch, more in the mood for street food than anything. He and Ben didn’t get far from the bookstore before they found a cart selling knish. Hux had heard it was good and suggested they try it. It was dough wrapped around a meat and potato filling that was flavorful and rich. Sitting on a set of stairs to a building, they ate in silence as they watched the passersby.

They had to take the subway and then walk to where they ferry would take them to Brooklyn Bridge Park, and they made it easily out to the pier. They stood near the prow of the small boat that took them across the river, again without conversing. Hux was content just to have Ben near him, the signs and texts unnecessary.

Despite the chilly weather, the park was still fairly busy. Some families played on the grass while one bold yogi went through his poses on a blue mat. Hux and Ben picked a bench to sit on, Ben taking Hux’s hand.

_It’s nice here,_ Ben texted as they both held their phones.

_It’s nicer in the summer, I think,_ Hux wrote. _But at least it’s not snowing yet. Do you like the winter?_

_Sometimes,_ said Ben. _I like the snow around Christmas, but it gets pretty old by February. Does it snow a lot in England?_

_Rarely,_ Hux replied. _The whole country shuts down if we get more than a few centimeters. It’s quite a circus, really._

Ben grinned. _I bet. Your recital is around Christmas, isn’t it? Is it for the whole studio?_

Hux nodded. _It is. The younger students play first, but I should play last._

_How’s Bach coming along?_

_Well enough. I think I’ll be ready by the time the recital comes around._

_Does anyone beside your parents come?_ Ben asked.

Hux didn’t have any other family in America to join them, but he took Ben’s hint, even if he didn’t say it outright. Hux typed: _You can come if you’d like to._

Ben laid a hand on his knee, squeezing before he went back to texting. _Really? I’d like to go. I’d like to see you play._

_You wouldn’t be bored watching everyone without hearing it?_ Hux asked. _It’s not like a sports match where there’s always something going on. It’s just eight or so students plunking away at the keyboard._

_I can sleep through the rest,_ Ben teased. _I’ll just watch you._

Hux wrinkled his nose at him and Ben laughed.

_Just kidding,_ Ben continued. _I won’t be bored. It’ll be worth sitting through to see you._

**Okay** , Hux signed. _I’ll ask Rae to set aside a place for you where you can see. You’ll have to wear a jacket and a tie, though._

Ben made a face. _Ugh, fine. If I have to. Do you get to wear a tuxedo or something?_

_Actually, yes,_ Hux said. He usually rented one since he was still growing. It would have been a waste of money to buy him one every year.

_I bet you look good in it,_ Ben wrote. _All fancy with a bow tie and everything._

Hux shrugged. _It’s nothing that special._

_Sure it is. It’s the culmination of all your hard work. You deserve to get dressed up and show off._

_I like showing off for you,_ Hux admitted. _I like the way you watch me like I’m in the only thing in the room._

Ben blinked at him, face open and expression warm. _You are,_ he wrote. _There’s nothing else to look at when you’re playing. I do wish I could hear it, but at least I’ve felt it._

Moved, Hux touched his cheek before replying. _I don’t think Rae will let you lie on the piano during the recital, I’m afraid._

_That’s okay,_ Ben typed. _You can play the whole thing for me at home before the show._

Hux leaned against him, head on his shoulder. _It means so much to me that you care about my music,_ he wrote. _It’s important to me, and you don’t just ignore it._

_How could I?_ Ben asked. _It’s a part of you. I want to know every part, care about every part. *You* mean so much to me._

The happiness welled up and burned through Hux’s heart. He couldn’t imagine anyone better than Ben; he was so dear, so cherished.

_Before I forget to tell you,_ Ben texted after a moment, _thank you so much for doing this. This day has already been amazing._

_I hope it’s going to get better,_ said Hux. _There are still hours left in the day. Our train doesn’t leave until after eight o’clock. After we have dinner._

Ben raised his brows. _Somewhere in particular?_

_A restaurant called Millennium. It’s a favorite of Maratelle’s._

_Sounds expensive._

_It is,_ Hux wrote, _but that’s why she gave me her credit card._

Ben’s lips parted in surprise. _Seriously? That’s really nice of her. We don’t go out to eat much. If Dad’s home it’s always take-out and when Mom’s home, Uncle Luke sometimes sends over stuff. He’s actually a really good cook. I’m going to have to ask him for the basics if I go away to college and have to cook for myself. There’s no way I’m subsisting on Chinese and pizza. A man craves a vegetable, you know?_

Hux laughed. _I do know, yes. I could learn a thing or two from Maratelle. I’m going to miss her dinners when I go to school._

_I wish I could come over for dinner more,_ Ben wrote. _I just make it awkward, though._

Hux wanted to deny it, but in all honesty, the Huxes didn’t handle Ben all that well over meals. _It’s better at your house_ , Hux said. _Even if it’s always take-out._

_You ever thought about what kind of place you want when you can have one of your own?_ Ben asked. _After college. Like, your dream house._

Hux had grown up in a cozy home in Surrey, but had no desire to settle in a small town. He’d much rather be in New York. He typed to Ben: _Maybe one of those loft apartments in an old warehouse or something like that. Big windows and all open. With space for a grand piano and a big bed._

_I’d like that, too,_ Ben said. _I could see myself there._ He glanced over at Hux, a bit chagrined. _If you wanted me there._

_I would,_ Hux wrote. _Is it too much to say that I’ve imagined sleeping with you?_

Ben smiled slyly, and he didn’t have to write anything for Hux to know what he was thinking. Hux shoved his shoulder.

_Okay, okay,_ Ben texted. _Mind out of the gutter. I know what you mean, and I’d like that, too. There’s no way we could fit in my bed, but we might fit in yours._

_I don’t mind close quarters,_ Hux said, mirroring Ben’s suggestive look.

_Me neither,_ said Ben. _Unfortunately, if you sleep over again, you’ll be banished to the couch. And your parents don’t really seem like the type to let me stay with you much._

They weren’t. _I know,_ Hux typed. _It’s just one of those distant ideas. Maybe I’m a sight too romantic about it anyway._

Ben rubbed Hux’s thigh fondly. _I don’t mind a little romance. And, honestly, I’ll do anything you want as long as I can be with you._

Hux took his hand and kissed the back of it. _There are a great deal of things I want to do with you, in bed and out of it._

_Like take me out to a fancy dinner?_ Ben wrote.

Hux inclined his head. _Just like that._

_We’ve been together for over a month now,_ Ben continued. _Feels like a lot longer, doesn’t it?_

_It does,_ Hux typed. _In a good way, of course._

Ben nodded. _In a very good way._ He turned to Hux and raised one brow. _Hey, have you ever been to see Juilliard?_

Hux shook his head. _I thought going there would be bad luck. If I looked at it too soon, I might not get in and then just be doubly disappointed._

_Seriously?_ Ben asked, eyes narrowed. _That’s dumb superstition. Why don’t we go there today? Just check it out._

Hux swallowed, uncertain, but wrote, _All right, I suppose._

Ben closed the messaging app on his phone and pulled up Google Maps to plan out their transit route. _It’s kind of far away,_ Ben said. _Should take us about 45 minutes to get there. But we’ve got the whole afternoon, right?_

_We do,_ Hux said.

Ben glanced around the park briefly before typing another message. _If we’ve got time, mind if I kiss you for a minute? I don’t think anybody’s paying attention._

Hux didn’t care if they were; he wrapped his arms around Ben’s shoulders and kissed his mouth.

A few minutes later, they caught the ferry back across to Manhattan and started their trip uptown to Lincoln Center. Ben held Hux’s hand as they rode the subway and as they walked from the station onto the school’s campus. Despite being set into a big city, the buildings had a bit of a university feel. There were people milling around, but Hux couldn’t tell if they were students or not. Still, there was an energy to the place that Hux could already feel.

_There are less than a thousand people who go here,_ Hux texted as they stopped in a front of a glass-fronted building. _The best of the best. I don’t know if I’ll measure up._

_Would *the* Rae Sloane have taken you on as a student if you didn’t?_ Ben asked.

Hux ventured a smile. _No, I don’t think she would have, but I’m still nervous. I will be until the day I got a call saying I was admitted. And even then, I’d be playing with the finest musicians in the world. At least some of them, anyway. That’s daunting._

_Sure, it is,_ Ben wrote, _but you’re going to be incredible._

They wandered a bit between the buildings, peeking in through some of the windows, but unable to make out much inside. Hux could imagine being here every day, walking from lecture and theory and performance. It was a campus alive with creativity, and a different conservatory would be a second best. In the end, he _had_ to get in here.

He was admiring the nearest edifice when he heard footsteps to his right. A girl with brown hair down to the middle of her back and a large pair of glasses on her nose stopped next to him, brows raised. She glanced between him and Ben.

“You guys look lost,” she said, hands on her hips. “Something you’re trying to find?”

Hux turned to her, saying, “Not really. We were just having a look around.”

The girl hummed. “Right. I’d put money down that you’re prospective students. You didn’t book a tour, huh? Well, I can show you around.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Nora. I’m in the drama program. What are you going to apply for?”

Hux, caught off guard by her familiarity, took a few seconds to place his hand in hers and shake. “I’m Hux,” he said as he let go. “This is Ben.”

She offered her hand to Ben, and he shook it, too. He seemed a bit bewildered, but he went along with it.

“I’m hoping to study music performance,” Hux continued. “Piano.”

“Then you’ll want to see one of the concert halls,” Nora said. “They’re locked most of the time, but I can get us in. Come on.” She set off at a brisk pace across campus, leaving Hux and Ben to follow.

**Where are we going?** Ben signed as they walked, Hux just able to catch it.

**Tour** , Hux replied for lack of more signs to explain.

Ben didn’t appear convinced, but he didn’t protest. They wound their way between buildings until Nora found the one she wanted, pulling open the door and ushering them inside.

“I came to see some of my friends do their recitals here,” she said as they arrived at a set of heavy wooden double doors. She tried one side and found it locked, but the other door opened. “This is one of the smaller halls, I think, but I’ve heard it has the best acoustics.”

The room was filled with blue upholstered tiered seating leading down to the a small raised stage where a grand piano stood, lid down. It was in good condition, but clearly well-used. Hux felt a thrill of excitement to think of himself seated there playing for all the people that could fit in this space.

“Go on, then,” said Nora. “Go knock out a song or something. Nobody’s around.”

Hux blinked at her, open-mouthed. “I couldn’t.”

She laughed. “Sure you could. Just go on. I’ll keep watch for the five-oh.”

**What did she say?** Ben asked.

**She wants me to play something** , Hux replied.

“Oh, cool,” she said, clearly interested. “You know sign language.”

Ben looked to Hux to interpret, having not seen her speak. Hux signed, **She says it’s cool we can sign.**

Unfazed, Ben turned his eyes to the piano, signing, **Are you going to play?**

**I shouldn't** , Hux signed back.

**Something short** , Ben suggested.

Hux sighed and turned back to Nora. “All right.”

She grinned and gestured toward the stage. “It’s all yours, maestro.”

Hux took one step down, but paused, signing to Ben, **Come feel**.

Ben nodded and followed him down the stairs.

At the piano, Hux took off his coat and sat, touching the keys. It was possible this would be his only chance to play at Juilliard, so he supposed he should take it. Drawing in a long breath, he positioned his fingers, launching into the allemande of the French Suite No. 5.

Nora had been right that the acoustics in the room were excellent; the music floated around in rich waves, filling the space but not overdoing it. More people would absorb more of the sound, too, making the hall feel almost cozy, intimate. Hux came alive as he imagined his audience: his peers, his pleased teachers, his parents.

Ben was still standing a pace away, watching Hux play, but as Hux met his gaze, he laid his upper body over top of the piano, resting his head on his folded arms and closing his eyes. If Nora found it odd, Hux didn’t care; he focused on the movement completely until he had played it through.

As he finished, he released the sustain pedal and listened to the last strains fade away. From the top of the hall, Nora applauded.

“You’re really good,” she said, coming down toward the stage. She looked at Ben, however, she addressed Hux: “Can he only hear if he’s close to the piano?”

“No,” Hux said. He signed as he spoke, so Ben could follow along: “He feels it when I play.”

Nora’s expression softened. “That’s really amazing. Is he your biggest fan?”

“Yes,” Ben said aloud.

She was surprised, so Hux clarified, “He can read lips and speak when he wants to.” To Ben: **Thank you.** Ben signed a kiss at him.

It wasn’t terribly difficult to discern that sign, and Nora’s eyes lit up. “Oh my God, are you two together? Because that’s honestly the sweetest thing I’ve seen this week.”

“We are,” Hux said.

“That’s fucking adorable. Do you want to play one more thing?” She held out her hand. “Give me your phone and I’ll take a picture.”

Hux wasn’t sure exactly if he wanted documented evidence of trespassing, but he slid his phone out of his pocket and, unlocking it, handed it over.

“You be in it, too,” she said to Ben when he made to stay away. He hesitated, but then went over and laid over the piano again, facing her. He kept his gaze on Hux as Hux began the gigue, the liveliest movement.

Hux didn’t pay attention to her moving around and snapping pictures as he worked his way through the movement, but when he was finished, she handed his phone to him and he scrolled through the shots she had taken. She had a good eye. There were a few from afar, capturing the whole piano, but there were a few close-ups, too, of just him. Lastly, though, were two shots of both him and Ben. She had managed to capture the moment when they had been looking at each other: Ben up from where he lay and Hux over from his position by the keyboard. It was stunningly intimate, making Hux’s heart ache. He showed it to Ben.

**Send that to me** , Ben signed.

Hux did, but not before setting it as his lock screen wallpaper. To Nora, he said, “Thank you for bringing us here, but we had better get going.”

“Sure,” she said. “Thanks for the mini concert. I think you’re going to fit right in here.”

Hux put his coat back on and they left the building, the cold evening wind buffeting his face. Nora gave both of them a hug and then disappeared.

_Thank you for making me come,_ Hux texted to Ben as they stood outside. _I’m excited now, as well as nervous._

_You’ll get in,_ Ben wrote. _You belong here._

_Any maybe you’ll be at NYU,_ said Hux. _It’s not more than a 30-minute train ride away._

Ben pulled him into a nook out of the wind and came to face him. _In the end,_ he typed, _we both have to do what’s right for us, okay? I’d love to be near you for college, but I can’t distract you. And maybe you’ll meet someone else by then. We can’t know what’s going to happen in two years._

Hux regarded him steadily—reading both sincerity and concern in his expression—before he turned to his phone. _No, we can’t, but I’m not writing anything off. Let’s just focus on right now, all right? We have a dinner to get to, and I’m spending that with you at this moment. Let’s contend with the future when we have to._

**Okay** , Ben signed.

They arrived at Millennium promptly at six-thirty. The restaurant was as swanky as Maratelle had suggested, with a deep blue and silver decor and mid-century modern furniture and accents. Hux went to the hostess’s desk and said, “Good evening. I have a reservation under the name Hux.”

The pretty young women with a head of tightly curled hair beamed at him. “Oh yes! You’re Maratelle’s son.” She looked at Ben. “And you’re his special guest. Welcome to Millennium!”

“Thank you,” said Hux.

She continued to smile radiantly. “Come on, gentlemen, if you’ll follow me.”

She led them to a table in a secluded corner, handing them their menus—she withheld the drink list—and wishing them a good dinner. “Aubrey will be with you a few minutes.”

**This is really fancy** , Ben signed from his place across from Hux.

**Yes** , Hux signed back. **Are you uncomfortable?**

Ben shook his head. **It’s different, but I like it.** He opened his menu and started to look it over.

Hux went to his own. There were all kinds of appetizers, from mussels to liver paté, and the entrées were just as varied. Hux was eying up the salmon with a honey lemon drizzle and arugula salad when their waitress arrived.

“Hi there,” she said. “I hear it’s a special occasion for you two tonight. That’s exciting. I’m Aubrey, and I’ll be taking care of you. Would you like something to drink to start?”

**What do you want to drink?** Hux signed to Ben.

**Coke?** Ben replied.

“He’ll have a Coke,” Hux said, “and I’ll have a sparkling water.”

“Of course,” said Aubrey. “I’ll bring some fresh-baked bread over. Do you want butter or olive oil or both?”

Hux didn’t know which Ben would prefer, so he asked for both. Aubrey flashed them another smile and headed off to get their drinks. Ben was already pulling out his phone.

_They’re going to think we’re really rude or something if we text the whole time, I bet,_ he typed.

_Who cares?_ Hux replied. _It’s none of their business what we’re doing._ He added, _But I do wish I could sign more with you._

_It’s only been since September that you’ve been learning,_ Ben said. _It’s incredible what you’re learned already. It takes years to be fluent._

_I’m impatient,_ Hux wrote, making an annoyed face.

_You’ll get there,_ said Ben. He tapped the menu. _What are you going to get?_

_Fish, I think,_ Hux typed. _What about you?_

_I don’t want to go overboard,_ Ben wrote. _You sure Maratelle is okay with this?_

Hux gave a nod. _She said not to look at the prices. Just get what you want._

_Steak, then,_ Ben decided. _Medium rare. With the potatoes._

Hux committed it to memory, since he would be ordering for them.

When Aubrey returned, she had a stemmed beer glass of Coke for Ben and a narrow cylindrical glass for Hux. She opened the bottle of sparkling water and filled it after she had set it down. She also gave them a basket of warm bread and a bottle of olive oil and a little dish of butter.

“Have we decided what we’re having?” she asked.

Hux gave their order.

“Great. Shouldn’t be long. Enjoy the bread; it’s great.”

Ben pulled out a piece of the bread first, spreading the whipped butter over it and taking a big bite.

**Good?** Hux signed.

He nodded around his mouthful. Hux decided on the olive oil and dipped his bread into it. For a while they just ate, their phones laid to the side. A few other diners had come in—all adult couples—but none of them bothered to look their way. Hux was glad for the privacy.

Ben was looking down at the table, chewing absently, when Hux turned to him again. Curious, Hux tapped the middle of the table to get his attention and signed: **What are you thinking?**

Ben reached for his phone. _I was wondering if things would have been different between us if I could hear. I mean, would you still have wanted to talk to me?_

Hux balked, having never thought of that before. He considered his reply carefully. _I didn’t know you were deaf when I first came to talk to you at lunch. I just thought you liked music a lot since you wore the headphones. And I suppose I was curious as to why you always sat alone._

_I’m surprised nobody told you,_ Ben wrote. _If you had known, you probably wouldn’t have come over._

_It’s a possibility,_ Hux admitted. _But what does it matter? It worked out as it should have._

Ben tipped his head to side, thoughtful. _I guess it doesn’t, but it just came to mind. If I wasn’t deaf, maybe you would have said hi once and then gone away and I wouldn’t have ever talked to you again. There wouldn’t have been anything different about me. I’d be just another person._

_You can’t know that,_ Hux wrote. _Maybe we still would have been friends. You’d still be you even if you could hear._

Ben asked, _Would I? Don’t know. I think I’d be a totally different person. Being deaf has completely shaped my life in a way it wouldn’t have if I could hear. It’s a defining part of me, like it or not._

Hux could tell this was bothering him, but didn’t know how to reassure him. He tried: _Of course it is, but it’s not something that affected you in a negative way. You became the incredible person you are with it as a part of you. Ben, I would never change you._

_It would be easier if I wasn’t deaf,_ Ben typed.

Hux frowned sternly at him. _I’m not looking for something “easy.” I want to be with you, and if that means I have to work at it, I’m going to._ He paused, trying to order his thoughts to say this properly. He began to write: _Things *would* be different if you could hear. Maybe you wouldn’t have been alone at the table when I came to you. Maybe I would have seen you with your other friends and not come at all. But that’s not the case. We found each other just as we are and there’s nothing I would go back and alter to make things different. I don’t see you as lacking anything, or get tired of texting instead of talking. I don’t want another Ben Solo. I want *you*._

Ben closed his eyes, letting out a long breath. When he opened them again, he signed: **Thank you.** He added something after, but Hux didn’t know the signs.

**What?** Hux asked.

Ben typed out: _I’m happy you like me because I’m like this._

Hux replied, _I like you no matter what._

Their meals came shortly after, and they both dove in hungrily. They texted a little while they were eating, but not much. Hux’s fish was delicious, and from the way Ben tore through his steak, it was good, too. Aubrey came to check on them once, bringing a refill of Coke and another bottle of water.

When they were both stuffed full of good food, Hux leaned back in his chair and sighed contentedly. Ben grinned at him. He was just picking up his phone again when Aubrey returned, carrying a small chocolate soufflé on a dish. As she set it down between them, she said, “Compliments of the chef, for your special day.”

The dessert was fantastic, leaving both of them perfectly sated.

_That was beyond good,_ Ben texted. _I’m going to have to say thanks to Maratelle. Maybe I should have bought her a card at the market today._

_Just telling her will suffice,_ said Hux. _She’ll be glad you had a good time._

_I had an incredible time. The whole day was incredible. The best surprise I’ve ever gotten._ He reached out across the table and Hux put his hand into his.

Hux squeezed his fingers before going back to his phone. _Thank you for spending it with me. I wouldn’t trade it for the world._

Aubrey came back to tell them that Maratelle had already given them her credit card number over the phone and that the tab was settled. “I’m so glad you came in tonight. You’re a really lovely couple.”

For once, it was Ben who spoke. “Thank you. Goodnight.”

They caught the subway back to Grand Central just in time to catch their train. It was fairly empty, so they weren’t bothered as they snuggled up together at the back of one of the cars. Ben held Hux against his side, stroking his arm idly while he nuzzled Hux’s ear. He let him go only to take out his phone again.

_Can I ask you something?_ he had written.

_Of course,_ Hux replied.

_You know I liked you from the very start, but when did you start to like me?_

Hux, charmed by his earnest question, typed: _I always thought you were good-looking, even from a distance, but I suppose it was when you started to send me the videos of you signing. I told you I used to watch them over and over._

Ben smiled. _Yeah? I was really nervous sending those to you, but it was either that or send you YouTube links with the signs, and they aren’t always the best._

_And it was talking to you, too,_ Hux said. _Just getting to know you over lunch or after school. You’re interesting and sometimes even funny._

_Sometimes,_ Ben wrote. _I guess I did the right thing with the videos, though. I’ll tell you, as soon as you asked to text me after school, I lost my mind. All practice and then dinner I was just vibrating with excitement. I wouldn’t let go of my phone. When I finally got your message, I couldn’t believe it was real._

Hux leaned against him, managing to text despite the awkward angle. _I thought you might think I was weird for asking that, but I didn’t want to let go of you yet. I was so intrigued and wanted to know more about you._

_I’m an open book,_ Ben said. _You can know anything you want, ever._

_Well,_ Hux wrote, _I would like to know if I could have a kiss._

Ben didn’t bother to reply, instead just bending his head down to press his lips to Hux’s. He tasted like chocolate when he slipped his tongue into Hux’s mouth, and to Hux it was like a second dessert. He was fairly sure he would never get tired of Ben’s kisses.

When the train arrived at Endor Cross station, both Maratelle and Han were standing outside to collect them.

**How was the day?** Han signed to Ben.

Ben replied, **Perfect.**

“Did you two have fun?” Maratelle asked. “How was dinner?”

It was dark and difficult for Ben to read her lips, so Han interpreted. Ben watched the signs, but spoke his reply. “Dinner was good. Thank you.”

Maratelle downright beamed. “You’re very welcome, Ben.”

“All right, then,” said Han. “Better be getting home, eh?” He signed to Ben: **Say goodnight to Hux.**

Ben came to Hux and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek for the sake of their audience. **Goodnight** , he signed.

Hux returned the signs and then watched as he and Han went to Han’s car.

Maratelle came up next to Hux and said, “Armitage, you have something very special in that boy.”

“I know,” said Hux. “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Illustrations from this chapter:  
> [The picture Nora took of Ben and Hux at Juilliard](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/175217940580/nadiasna7-though-there-are-no-more-allemande) by [nadiasna7](https://nadiasna7.tumblr.com/)  
> [Ben and Hux at their dinner at Millennium](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/175570563565/alybrilliant-ben-and-armitage-have-their-date) by [alybrilliant](http://alybrilliant.tumblr.com/)


	8. Eighth Movement

The following Thursday, Hux discovered, was the singularly American holiday of Thanksgiving. His parents weren’t celebrating, of course, and when Ben found out, he went directly to Han and Leia to ask if Hux could join them for their Thanksgiving Day festivities.

“He’s always welcome,” Han had said. “The more the merrier!”

So, Hux rode his bicycle over to the Solos’ house at two o’clock on Thanksgiving Day. He put it in the garage, which had been left open for him, before going up to the front door and ringing the bell.

“Hello, Hux,” Leia said as she opened the door. She wore jeans and a sweater, over which was a floral apron with ruffles at the edges. “Come in. It’s good to see you.”

“Hello, Leia,” he replied. “Thank you for having me over.”

“Of course, dear. Ben’s in watching the game with Han, but why don’t you run your bag upstairs to his room?”

Hux didn’t even get to the foot of the stairs before Ben appeared, grinning at him. They signed their greetings, Hux gesturing to his bag and then the stairs. Ben followed him up to the second floor and into his room, closing the door behind them. Hux’s bag was on the floor in seconds and his arms around his boyfriend’s neck. They kissed for a few minutes, enjoying the solitude.

**How are you?** Hux signed when they parted with a last, brief peck.

**Good** , Ben replied. **I’m glad you’re here. It’s a fun holiday.**

Hux had been told that everyone spent a great deal of time watching American football and nibbling on snacks until the massive dinner was served around six o’clock. Ben had described the turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and creamed spinach, and pumpkin pies for dessert. Hux couldn’t imagine eating that much, but he promised he’d try it all for the full experience.

**Should we go downstairs?** Hux asked.

Ben signed an offhanded **Yes** before taking his hand and leading him back to the living room. Han was in his easy chair holding a bottle of beer, his fingers leaving prints in the condensation.

“Hey, Hux!” he said as he signed **Hello**. He set the beer down, signing as he spoke. “How’s it going, kid?”

“Very well, thank you,” said Hux, signing it, too. “Thank you for having me for dinner.”

“Sure thing,” Han said, picking up his beer again. “You need something to drink?”

**I’ll get it** , Ben signed. **Just water?**

Hux signed: **Soda.**

Ben ducked out of the living room and presumably into the kitchen, leaving Han and Hux alone.

“Come have a seat, kid,” Han said, gesturing to the sofa. “You know, Ben’s been talking about your trip to New York all week since you got back. Told us all about it. Heard you treated him to a fancy dinner. That’s like something out of the movies.” He winked.

Hux found himself flushing. “It was a wonderful day,” he said. “I’m glad he enjoyed it.”

Han took a slow sip of his beer. “All I’ve ever wanted was for him to be happy. It wasn’t easy for him growing up. He had Luke, thank God, but it’s not a simple thing as a deaf kid in a hearing household. I’m damn proud of what he’s accomplished: track, keeping up his grades, making friends outside of the community.” He took a deep breath, let it out. “And now he’s got you. You’re always wary of your kid’s first boyfriend, but I don’t think you’re going to do him wrong. Am I right in that?”

“The last thing I’m going to do is hurt him,” Hux said stridently. “And I appreciate your trust in me. It would be significantly more difficult for us if you didn’t approve.”

Han inclined his head. “Don’t I know it. My parents weren’t so pleased when I brought my boyfriend Lando home for Thanksgiving all those years ago. They took to Leia a lot faster. Easier to accept, I figure.” He huffed. “That was a different time, though. We’ve come a long way since then.”

Hux asked, “Are you still friends with him, with Lando?”

“Oh sure,” said Han. “We don’t see each other much, but I stop by every time I’m in Chicago. He owns a bar called Cloud City. Nice place. Did good for himself in the end.”

“Leia isn’t bothered by that?”

Han laughed. “God, no. We all used to hang out together in college after he and I broke it off. Leia knows how it is and never minded.” He cocked a brow. “You the jealous type?”

Hux shook his head, but thinking of Ben with someone else didn’t sit well with him. In the back of his mind, too, he had been concerned that Ben would eventually get tired of Hux’s beginner’s attempts at ASL and with texting with him and decide he would be better off with a deaf boyfriend than a hearing one.

“May I ask,” Hux started, “was Luke’s wife deaf?”

“Mara Jade?” said Han. “No. She could hear.” The corner of his mouth turned down. “You concerned about that being a problem with Ben?”

“Sometimes he has to think it’s tiresome that I can’t sign very well yet,” Hux said. “Don’t you think?”

Han rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Can’t say I do, kid. Ben lives in a hearing world and he’s never made a point to stick within the deaf community exclusively. He’s always tried to communicate with other people. It’s hard sometimes, and it frustrates him, but I haven’t gotten any impression that communicating with you bothers him. And you’re learning ASL _for him_. That counts for more than something in his book, and in mine.”

“I’m going to be fluent,” Hux said. “I’m determined.”

“I couldn’t wish for anything—anyone—better for him, then,” said Han.

Hux ventured a watery smile. “Thank you.”

“Sure thing, kid.”

Ben returned a minute later, carrying two cans of Coke, one of which he handed to Hux. **Sorry that took a long time** , he signed as he dropped onto the couch next to Hux. He signed something else, but Hux could only make out “mom.” Reading his confusion, Ben said aloud, “Mom made me stir the gravy.”

“Oh, that’s good stuff,” said Han as he signed along. “I’m already starving.”

Ben pushed a bowl of salsa and a bag of corn chips at him. **Here you go.**

Han didn’t hesitate to take a chip, scoop up a generous helping of salsa, and stuff the whole thing into his mouth. Hux tried a more reasonable bite, finding it incredibly spicy. He quickly reached for his soda and cooled his tongue.

Hux didn’t know anything about the the teams that were playing in the football game, but he turned to watch as Ben and Han did. He tried to remember the rules Finn had explained to him at homecoming, but came up at a loss. The referee was announcing something about a personal foul when Hux’s phone vibrated. Ben was looking at him expectantly, his own phone in his hand.

The message read: _You look super bored. Do you want to do something else?_

_I don’t want to be rude,_ Hux replied. _But I have no idea what’s going on in this game._

Ben smiled and typed: _Let’s go upstairs. Nobody will mind. We can come back down in a couple of hours when everyone else gets here._

_Everyone else?_ Hux asked.

_Yeah, Luke and Rey are coming, and Uncle Chewie._

_Oh, that’s nice. I look forward to seeing them._

Ben patted his thigh. _Me, too, but let’s go to my room for now._ Getting up, he signed to Han: **We’re going to my room.**

**Okay** , Han replied before turning back to the game.

Hux followed him back upstairs and into his bedroom, where Ben flopped down on the bed, crooking his finger at Hux to invite him to join him there. Hux pulled off his shoes and crawled onto the bed, nestling against Ben. Ben kissed him, but didn’t linger. Hux glanced over at the bedside table to see a new-looking paperback tome.

_What are you reading now?_ he texted despite the fact that he could see the title on the spine.

_I finally got around to A Song of Ice and Fire_ , Ben replied. _The books Game of Thrones is based on._

Hux had heard of the show but had never seen it. _Is it any good?_

_Yeah. It’s pretty heavy material, but it’s fun._ He reached for the book, handing it to Hux to read the back. Hux did, but it didn’t seem like anything he would like. He set it back down. Ben texted: _How’s Frankenstein coming along?_

_I like it better than Dracula_ , Hux wrote. _It’s more thoughtful._

_That’s true,_ Ben agreed. _I loved it. If you’re almost done, we’ll have to find the next thing for you to read._

Hux typed: _I’m sure you can think of something._

On Ben’s desk was the notebook they had bought in New York, the string holding it tightly closed. There was a pen lying beside it, though, uncapped. It seemed Ben had been using it, and Hux was glad.

_I talked to your father for a little while you were in the kitchen,_ he wrote carefully. _I’m relieved that he likes me._

_Are you kidding?_ Ben typed. _He loves you. He thinks you’re a good influence on me. You started me with math tutoring and I went to homecoming. I’ve never done that kind of stuff before. And he’s pretty pleased I’ve finally got a boyfriend, just like I thought he would be._

Hux traced his fingers down Ben’s arm, watching the hairs rise under his touch. _What does your mother think?_

_She’s a little more skeptical, I guess,_ Ben replied. _She thinks all young relationships are doomed. Just because hers were doesn’t mean mine will be. But she likes you, if that’s any consolation._

Hux huffed. _I suppose it is. I like them, too. They’re kind._

_I’m glad,_ Ben typed. He put his phone down, shifting to lie down and face Hux. He stroked his cheek gently, brushing a lock of hair away from his brow. “Beautiful,” he said.

Hux, lying on his side, couldn’t sign, so he spoke, slowly. “I like hearing your voice.”

Ben asked, “What do I sound like?”

“Your voice is deep,” Hux said. “Deeper than mine.” He touched Ben’s lips. “You have a good laugh. Bright and loud.”

Ben smiled under Hux’s fingers. “I like watching you laugh.”

Charmed, Hux leaned in and kissed him on the tip of the nose.

Ben bumped his nose against Hux’s before he pulled back. “Can you sing?”

Hux hadn’t been a part of the choir in school, but he sometimes gave in to Maratelle’s demands and sang the lyrics of the Billy Joel songs she loved so much. He wasn’t particularly good, but he could hold a tune.

“I can,” he told Ben. “Not that well, but I can.”

Ben reached out and put his hand over Hux’s throat, as he did to feel the noises Hux made when they kissed. “Would you sing for me? Not now, but sometime.”

Hux covered Ben’s fingers with his, tender. “Okay.”

They watched each other for a few moments, just exchanging fond looks, wordless affection. Eventually, Ben released his hold and said, “Can you put your fingers in my hair? It feels good.”

Hux nodded and allowed Ben to guide him onto his back, Ben crawling up next to him and resting his head on Hux’s stomach. Hux slid his hands into his hair, stroking through it, catching only occasionally on a knot. He scratched gently at Ben’s scalp, and he felt Ben sigh.

This kind of contentment was new to him: silence and proximity, just letting himself be near Ben and knowing he was cared for without having to say a word. Ben’s head rose and fell with his breathing, his eyes closed. Just looking at him lifted Hux’s heart, buoyant with joy. He missed him desperately when he was gone—even though they could text—and wanted to spend as much time with him as he could, even if just to sit as they were now, touching gently, bodies close and warm.

Sitting at the piano on Sunday afternoon, Hux had been distracted from his usual practice pieces, his thoughts straying again and again back to the trip to New York. When he had played in the concert hall at Juilliard, he had been transported, caught a glimpse of the future he might be able to have. And he hadn’t been alone in that vision; Ben had been with him, feeling every note he struck. He found himself spending long minutes staring at the picture Nora had taken of them together there—their eye contact across the piano. Ben seemed entranced, and Hux, too, by him.

_I love him,_ Hux had realized as he had looked at their faces in the picture. He was the dearest thing in Hux’s life; he made him happier than anybody ever had. But Hux held that knowledge back, unsure what Ben would make of it if he dared reveal it. He wasn’t necessarily afraid that Ben wouldn’t return his feelings—he was almost certain he did—but just saying the words ushered in a new phase in his life. First love was a monumental shift, the first time you put your heart on the line for someone else. He wasn’t sure he was ready to do that.

However, he wouldn’t necessarily have to _say_ them. He could sign them instead—in fact, if he was going to do it, that would be how. As he lay in Ben’s bed now, he made sure Ben’s eyes were still closed, and lowered his middle and ring finger so that the pointer and pinky made a U shape and extended his thumb to the side like the letter L. It was a one-handed, simple sign, but it meant so much. Now wasn’t the right time; he would wait until it was.

Hux drifted drowsily in and out of sleep, his hand never stilling in Ben’s hair. Ben was a dead weight on top of him, presumably also asleep. Hux was imagining the strokes of the keys for the French Suite when the lights flashed on and off. There was a knock at the door for Hux’s benefit and then Han’s voice: “Hey in there, you two alive?”

“Yes,” Hux replied, shifting. It woke Ben, who blinked blearily up at him. **The door** , Hux signed. **Your father.**

That registered and Ben pushed himself up and away. Rolling off the bed, he went to open the door, revealing Han standing outside.

**Were you asleep?** Han asked.

Ben signed lethargically **Yes** as he yawned. **What do you want?**

**Everyone’s here** , Han signed. **Come downstairs and say hello.**

Hux jumped off the bed, resisting the urge to rub his face to wake himself up. He fell in line behind Ben, who followed Han down to the living room.

Uncle Chewie took up a tremendous amount of space standing in the center of the room. Rey was sitting on the arm of the sofa, Luke just to her right. They signed their greetings, but Chewie and Rey lowered their hands for Luke to sign first.

**Hux, I didn’t know you were going to be here** , he signed. **Happy Thanksgiving.**

**Happy Thanksgiving** , Hux replied.

**You don’t have this in England** , Rey signed to him from her perch on the sofa. She still signed very quickly and Hux still sometimes struggled to keep up with her.

He shook his head.

**It’s my favorite holiday** , she continued. **Good food. Family. All good things.**

**I’m excited** , Hux signed. **Happy to be here.** From out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ben grinning warmly at him. He smiled back.

“You guys are disgusting,” Rey said aloud. Ben missed it, but Hux shot her a look.

“You don’t have a leg to stand on, Rey Skywalker,” Han said. “You and that young lady of yours have been spending an awful lot of time together.”

Rey had the good sense to blush.

Ben, annoyed at being left out, demanded to know what Han had said. Han signed it to him and Ben laughed. Luke had been watching, too, and squeezed Rey’s shoulder. She shoved his hand away.

“Hello, everyone!” Leia said, coming into the room. She signed: **Drinks?**

Chewie asked for beer, Luke for red wine, and Rey for soda. Leia signed to Ben to go see to it. He made a face, but did as he was told. Han went over to Luke, signing for him to sit. They both took places on the sofa. Rey slid down onto the cushions proper, smooshing herself up against Luke. He patted her head before he went back to signing with Han.

Hux was considering taking a spot on the floor when Chewie motioned him over. Hux went to him, looking up to meet his gaze.

**You’re Ben’s boyfriend** , Chewie signed.

**Yes** , Hux replied. **You’re his uncle.**

Chewie gave him a big, toothy smile. **Something like that. You’re smart if you can already sign this much.**

**I work hard** , Hux signed. **And I have two teachers. Three, with Rey.**

**I doubt she helps much** , Chewie signed. His next sign Hux didn’t know.

**I’m sorry** , he signed. **I don’t understand.**

Chewie leaned over to Rey and tapped her on the shoulder. He signed several things Hux couldn’t follow. He saw Rey’s outrage, though; she glowered at Chewie, who only smirked.

“He says I have an attitude,” Rey said to Hux. “That I’m not helping you learn to sign.” To Chewie: **I am!**

Chewie rolled his eyes and turned back to Hux. He signed to Hux: **See? Attitude.**

Hux suppressed a smile. **Yes, I see.**

**Anyway** , Chewie continued, **welcome to the family.**

Hux’s heart jumped; he _wanted_ to be a part of this family. **Thank you** , he signed.

Ben appeared again, juggling everyone’s drinks rather deftly. He handed Luke a glass of wine, tossed a can of soda to Rey, and handed a bottle to beer to Chewie.

**What are you saying about me?** Ben signed to him when his hands were free.

Chewie bared his teeth in a macabre grin, but shrugged noncommittally, taking a sip of his beer. Ben rolled his eyes and took Hux’s hand to draw him away. He led him to a spot of floor and sank down onto his knees to lean against the foot of the sofa. He gestured Hux to come join him, patting his chest. As Hux leaned back against him, Ben wrapped his arms around his waist, resting at his stomach.

Leia went back into the kitchen—insisting that she didn’t need any help—and left everyone else to their mix of spoken and signed conversation. Han spoke aloud to Rey while Luke and Chewie caught up on what had been happening in their lives recently. Hux knew it was rude to eavesdrop on them, but he glanced their way every so often to catch a few of their signs. He absently watched the television commercials, but his attention was more on Ben’s soft caresses of his belly through his shirt. Ben’s chin was resting on his shoulder, and he once nuzzled close and kissed just behind Hux’s ear. If anyone was bothered by their snuggling, they didn’t show it.

Eventually, as everyone finished their drinks, Leia—sans apron—came to summon them in to carry everything into the dining room for dinner. The turkey was massive and golden brown; it smelled heavenly. Each one of them was entrusted with a side dish to bear in. Hux had a bowl of cooked carrots, which he set down at the corner of the long table. Han sat at the head, brandishing a knife and serving fork with which to cut the turkey.

Rey made the rounds with a pitcher of ice water, filling glasses while the rest of them took their seats. Hux was placed next to Ben with Rey to his left.

**Welcome, everyone** , Leia signed. **Happy Thanksgiving! Let’s eat.**

Hux was now used to the quick way the food was passed around and how it was done in mostly silence. Leia and Rey said one or two things to each other, but everyone else was quiet.

“Give me your plate, Hux,” Han said. Hux passed it down and Han put a large slice of turkey onto it. Hux filled the rest with stuffing, spinach, green beans, and mashed potatoes. To a point it all ran together, but he didn’t mind too much, especially when he watched Ben pour gravy over almost everything on his plate.

“What do you think?” Rey asked, her mouth half full of turkey. “Pretty great, huh?”

“It’s very good,” Hux replied. He nodded at Leia, who winked at him. Ben, too, asked if he liked it, though he signed it. Hux gave him the same answer.

When they were finished, Hux helped wash up; the dishwasher was too small to handle all the dishes. Han played the radio while they put leftovers into plastic containers and scrubbed plates clean. Hux was given a towel to dry things.

“Thanks, kid,” Han said as Hux handed him the last glass he had dried. “You sticking around for the night?”

“No,” said Hux. “I’ve got to be home by nine o’clock.”

“Ah, shame. We usually watch a couple of movies until late.” He reached up into the cabinet to put the glass away. “But you’ve still got time for pie and at least a half of a movie, eh?”

“I suppose I do,” Hux said.

He was given a small plate with two different kinds of pie. The pecan was extremely sweet and the pumpkin tasted of nutmeg. He made it about halfway through each before he was too full to eat more. Ben took them from him and polished them off, even after his own pieces.

**I love pie** , he signed. **It’s the best part of Thanksgiving.**

When Hux kissed him goodbye for the night, he tasted like it. They didn’t have plans for the weekend, but Hux needed to catch up on his practice hours anyway, so he would be spending a great deal of time at the piano.

**Maybe I’ll see you Sunday?** Ben asked.

**I’ll ask** , Hux replied. **Goodnight.**

Ben gave him another kiss before sending him out the door.

When Hux got home, Maratelle was curled up against Brendol’s side on the sofa while they watched House Hunters. Hux still had no idea how they could sit through that drivel, but somehow it was compelling.

“Hello, dear heart,” said Maratelle. “Did you have a good time at Ben’s house?”

“I did,” he said. “It was really charming. His whole family was there and there was a big to-do about the whole thing. I’m ready to burst from all the food there was. It was a bit like Christmas dinner, just without the pudding.”

“That sounds lovely,” she said. “Would you like to stay up with us for a little while?”

“I’m knackered. I think I’ll turn in.”

“All right. Goodnight.”

He went up the stairs to his room, detouring to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. Changed into his pajamas, he peeled back the covers on his bed and crawled under them. His light was off, but he unlocked his phone to reply to a message from Ben.

_We’re watching Animal House_ , Ben had written. _Dad loves it, but I can barely stand it. I can’t leave, though. Everyone’s down here. Talk to me?_

_About what?_ Hux wrote.

_Anything you want,_ Ben replied. _What are you thinking about right now?_

Hux typed: _How I could fall into a food coma. Are you going to be eating turkey leftovers for the next week?_

_If not longer. Mom would have sent some home with you to spare us if she could’ve, but I think she thought it was rude. Like you wouldn’t eat it or something._

_Well,_ Hux wrote, _Maratelle doesn’t do leftovers. She cooks just enough for all of us. I don’t know how she does it. Some kind of food voodoo. But we never eat the same thing twice in a week._

_You’re missing out,_ Ben wrote. _There’s something special about day-old food. Like the flavor settles into it._

_Disgusting._

_I’ll have you try next-day Chinese one of these days._

Hux turned on the bedside lamp and snapped a picture of himself making a face. _No thank you,_ he sent with it.

_Haha,_ Ben wrote. _You’re a snob. A cute one, but you’re still a snob._

_Sod off,_ Hux typed sourly. He changed the subject: _What are you doing tomorrow?_

_Going to get our Christmas tree. It’s Solo tradition. We go to a farm and cut one down ourselves and then spend the whole afternoon decorating it._

_You get it so early?_ Hux asked.

_Yeah,_ Ben replied. _Mom likes to be festive for the whole month of December. I like it, too. It smells really good in the living room the whole time._

The Huxes would likely get a small tree one or two days before Christmas; a large one wouldn’t fit in the living room around the piano.

_That sounds nice,_ Hux wrote. _I’ll have to come over and see it._

_I’ll put your present under it,_ Ben typed.

Hux hadn’t thought about what he was going to buy Ben for Christmas yet. _Do you have something picked out?_

_Maybe, maybe not. Like I’m going to tell you._

_All right,_ Hux sent. _I won’t press to know. I’ll wait to be surprised._

_Good,_ Ben wrote. The ellipsis appeared again before Hux could reply, so he waited. _Uncle Luke just challenged me to Scrabble. I’m going to go destroy him. I’ll text you tomorrow._

_Have fun_ , Hux wrote before locking his phone and setting it aside. He turned off the light. Thinking of Ben’s head resting on his stomach as Hux stroked his hair, Hux drifted off to sleep.

 

****

 

Schubert was among Hux’s favorite nineteenth-century composers, and he was happily playing his Piano Sonata in E Major (circa 1816) on Wednesday afternoon two weeks later. He had an audience—Ben and Phasma—but they were mostly ignoring him, focused on their geometry homework. Their major chapter test was coming up on Friday and Phasma had kindly offered to help Ben through his studying. She had come home on the bus with them after school, sitting down immediately to crack open her books. Hux had sat with them until he finished his assignment for the night, going after to the piano to practice.

“Is anyone hungry?” Maratelle asked as she brought in a tray of fruit, crackers, and cheese. It was awfully bourgeois for a trio of high school students, but that was Maratelle. She set the tray down on the coffee table, and immediately Ben reached for a slice of apple.

“Thank you,” he said aloud to her.

“You’re welcome, Ben,” she said. To Hux: “Sounds lovely, Armitage, but come have a snack.”

Doing as he was bid, Hux rose from the piano bench and came to join the others on the sofa. They had their laptops open to their group chat, so Hux picked his up and opened it.

_I could get used to this kind of treatment,_ Phasma typed as she chewed on a cracker and a big piece of gouda. _Is this how the other half lives?_

Hux bristled, but Ben wrote: _Don’t tease him. His stepmom is just fancy like that. She writes for a magazine part time and then spends the rest feeding everyone in sight._

Hux gave Ben a grateful look, and Ben signed a kiss to him.

_Well, she’s my new favorite person,_ Phasma wrote, popping a cheese-stuffed olive into her mouth. _So, I’ve been thinking. I’m going to try out for the spring musical after all. The lead role is soprano, but there’s a supporting role for an alto. Speaking part and everything._

_That sounds wonderful,_ Hux typed. _I think I might have a go at the orchestra._

He had seen the audition announcements hanging on the walls at school and had mentioned casually to his father last night at dinner that he might like to try out. Brendol had grumbled for a moment, but then had said, “Might as well. It’s not as if anyone would beat you to the part.”

_That’s great!_ Ben wrote, grinning at him over his laptop screen. _They’ll be lucky to have you._

_You’re right about that,_ said Phasma. _This was actually the first time I’ve ever heard you play, and damned if you aren’t good. Not that I know anything about classical music, but it sounds pretty impressive to me._

Hux thanked her. _It’s my passion._

_He’s gonna play for sold out concert halls one day,_ said Ben. _And you’d better believe I’m gonna be in the front row for all of them._

Hux warmed happily at that, and Phasma chuckled.

She wrote: _You guys really are something. I thought Finn and Poe were bad, but you two are totally gone for each other. I’d say it’s gross, but actually it’s pretty amazing. You don’t find that much in high school._

Ben’s cheeks pinkened as he began typing. Hux waited for his message.

_It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,_ he wrote. _I’ve never been this happy in my entire life._

Struck, Hux wanted to reach for him, but Phasma was between them. Instead, he signed: **I’m happy, too.**

Phasma shook her head, half smile on her lips. _That’s really sweet. I can hope for that someday._

_What about Rey?_ Hux asked. They had been seeing each other for a few weeks now and things seemed to be going well.

_She’s incredible,_ Phasma replied. _I can’t believe she wants to go out with me._

Ben touched her shoulder, blinking at her slowly. “She likes you a lot,” he said.

It was Phasma’s turn to blush. She smiled with remarkable shyness. “I like her, too,” she said, letting Ben read her lips.

_She’s coming over soon to get me,_ Phasma typed when she looked away from Ben. _We’re going to get burgers at Maz’s._

_Those are *so* good,_ Ben wrote. _I haven’t been there in ages._ He raised a brow at Hux. _Want to go this Sunday?_

_Sure,_ Hux replied.

From there the conversation shifted to school and the gossip and drama among the students. There were the usual beefs and catty arguments, but none of it was truly malicious. Endor Cross was too small to really have cliques; most everyone got along, even if you didn’t hang out with a certain group of friends. There was a discussion of the Snow Ball—the Christmas dance—but Ben said he wouldn’t be going.

_You can still feel the beat of the music,_ Phasma wrote to him. _Do you just not like to dance?_

_I look like an idiot,_ Ben typed. _The epitome of bad white guy dad dancing. It’s awful to behold._

Phasma barked a laugh. _Then you’re just like everyone else in the school. Seriously, you should come. Hux, you could, too._

_I’m all right,_ Hux wrote. He wouldn’t have minded going, but if Ben wasn’t inclined, then he would find something else to do with him that night.

_Well, you can skip the Snow Ball, then,_ Phasma said, _but both of you had better plan on coming to prom next year. You *can’t* miss your senior prom, no matter how bad at dancing you are. You don’t even have to dance. You can just walk around and watch._

_Like a total creeper?_ Ben countered. _No thanks._

Phasma appealed to Hux: _If you come, he’ll come, right? He’s not about to let his boyfriend go stag to prom. It’s just not done._

Hux looked to Ben, who pursed his lips, clearly uncertain.

_We have more than a year to decide,_ Hux wrote after a moment. _Let’s leave it until then, shall we?_

The ringing of the doorbell kept them from messaging any more. Hux signed to Ben **Door** before jumping up to answer it. Rey, with a scarf wrapped up to her chin, was standing outside in the snowy wind, rubbing her gloved hands together.

“Hey, Hux,” she said.

“Come to get Phasma?” he asked.

“Yep. Can I come in?”

He stepped aside to let her across the threshold. She sighed, clearly glad to be in the warmth of the house.

Phasma, backpack over her shoulder, appeared from the living room, Ben at her heels. Rey lit up when she saw her.

“Hey, Phas,” she said brightly. “Ready to go?”

Hux took Phasma’s coat from the rack and held it out to her. She shrugged it on and zipped it up to her throat.

“Thanks for having me over, Hux,” she said as she headed for the door. “See you tomorrow in class.”

“Have a good dinner,” he said, waving. He signed: **Bye, Rey.**

**Bye** , she signed back. To Ben: **See you later, asshole.** Ben flipped her off.

When they had gone, Hux asked, **Want to study more?**

**No** , Ben replied. **Come sit with me for a while?**

They returned to the sofa, curling up close together, but far enough away that they could still text.

_What were you playing before?_ Ben asked. _The Bach?_

_Schubert,_ Hux wrote. _Very different style. It’s an old piece I played for a recital when I was younger._

_Are you excited about this year’s?_

_I am. Rae’s been saying good things about the French Suite. I’ve been playing it through in our lessons now, sometimes. Mostly she breaks down the movements and focuses on one, but it’s important to hear the piece as a whole._

Ben typed: _That’s cool. I can’t wait to see you play it._

_Did you really mean what you said before?_ Hux asked. _About being in the front row for all my concerts?_

Ben nestled close to him, as if trying to affirm it with his body. _Of course, I did. I’m not going to miss one._

Hux leaned against him, shoulder-to-shoulder. _You’ll certainly not be able to make all of them, but I’m glad you want to come._

_Nora at Juilliard said I’m your biggest fan,_ Ben wrote. _It’s true._

Hux kissed him then. He was conscious of Maratelle puttering around the kitchen—he didn’t like the idea of being caught with his tongue down Ben’s throat—but he let himself enjoy the warm softness of his mouth.

When they parted after a few minutes, Ben asked, _Will you show me how to play something? Nothing complicated, but something little?_

Hux’s brows rose in pleased interest. **Of course** , he signed. **Come with me.**

He took a seat on one side of the piano bench, leaving Ben to the other side. It was close quarters, but they didn’t mind. Hux held his hands out for Ben’s and Ben gave them. Carefully, Hux arranged his fingers at the closest octave, putting each in its appointed place for a C chord. He pushed Ben’s fingers down on the keys until the notes sounded.

**I can’t feel much** , Ben signed after Hux released him. **But keep going.**

Hux demonstrated the position for the next chord an octave down, indicating that Ben should put his fingers in the same place in his own octave. They played the chords together. Hux then played a short melody—just six notes. Ben gestured for him to play it again so he could watch before he tried to play it himself. Hux started with the first three notes, striking the keys slowly enough to teach. Ben played his part then, and did well at it.

The next three notes went just as quickly, and Hux had him combine all six. He had excellent reach with his long fingers, and would likely have made an excellent pianist had he learned as a child. And he _could have_ learned. It was perfectly possible for deaf people to learn to play music; Hux had learned about several, from pianists to guitarists.

He taught Ben the rudiments of a song until Ben could play them all without much hesitation. Hux played them with him for a while, but eventually began to strike the underlying chords to fill out the melody. It was something Hux could have played with both hands, but having Ben plunk out the melody was charming.

From the entryway, Hux heard the front door open. Turning, he saw Brendol, home from work. Hux pulled back from the keyboard, signing to Ben: **My dad is home.**

Ben straightened his posture and got up from the bench. They had gotten more used to each other in the weeks Ben had been coming to the house after school, but Brendol was still painfully formal with him and there was a constant awkwardness between them when they talked.

Hux stood as well, going with Ben to the entryway to say hello. Brendol was just shucking his overcoat when they entered.

“Hi, Da,” Hux said.

Brendol turned to see him and Ben. “Hello, Armitage. Ben.”

“Hello, Mr. Hux,” Ben said.

“Is he staying for dinner?” Brendol asked. Hux tried not to cringe. Brendol would sometimes speak to Hux about Ben as if he weren’t standing right next to him.

“Not tonight,” Hux replied. To Ben: **Do you want to go home soon?**

Ben glanced at his watch and nodded.

Hux said to Brendol, “He was actually just leaving.”

“Hm, very well,” Brendol mumbled. He went into the kitchen without another word, leaving Ben and Hux to look after him in consternation.

**That was fun** , Ben signed.

Hux rolled his eyes. **I’m sorry he’s such an asshole. He probably won’t change.**

Ben shrugged. **It’s okay. He’s fine.** **I should go.**

They went together back into the living to retrieve Ben’s things, going then to the door, where Hux kissed him goodbye.

**See you tomorrow** , they both signed, and then Ben was gone.

Hux wasn’t in any particular mood to talk to his parents, so he returned to the piano and Schubert. He didn’t get up until Maratelle came to fetch him for dinner.

“Was that Ben I heard playing before?” she asked him as they sat down at the table.

“Yes,” Hux replied. “He wanted to learn something.”

Maratelle beamed. “He’s such a nice boy.”

Hux took the salad, thinking just that.

 

****

 

Hux’s final ASL class was held on the twentieth of December. Luke had decreed that it was going to be more of a graduation party than a lesson, so all of students brought something to share. Maratelle had baked peppermint chocolate cupcakes, and she drove Hux to the Skywalker School to make sure he got them there safely. Everyone made the appropriate noises over them, Arianne asking for the recipe.

She and Hux had met a few more times over the course of the fall to practice their signs, and she had decided that she was ready to take Beginner Level II after all. She was very excited. Hux had planned to join her in the class, but Luke had told him it was better he skip to Intermediate Level I instead. He couldn’t help but grin with pride.

Hux was munching on a piece of gingerbread cookie in the classroom when Rey came over to him, holding her own plate of goodies.

“I hear you’re skipping a grade,” she said, eyeing him. “Dad thinks you’re ready.”

Hux tipped his head to the side, affecting modesty, but he said, “And what do _you_ think?”

She huffed. “Fishing for compliments, huh? You know you’re learning super fast with Ben and all of us to teach you. And you take to it well, really.” She lifted her chin. “What do I think? I’m impressed.”

“Thank you,” Hux said in earnest. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t want your approval.”

“Yeah, well,” Rey said, “you have it. You and Ben are really good together. I’m not jumping to break you up.”

“I appreciate that.”

“Yeah, you should.”

They stared each other down over their plates, but when Rey broke into a smile, Hux relaxed. Confrontation just seemed to be in her nature; he would have to get used to that. She wandered away shortly after, going to speak to another of the students. Hux found himself facing Luke instead.

**Having a good time?** Luke asked.

Hux set his plate down to sign back: **Yes. Thank you for recommending me for the intermediate class. Do you teach that, too?**

**No** , Luke signed. **Ms. Holdo does. She’s an excellent teacher.**

**I look forward to meeting her in January** , Hux signed. The new session began just after the new year.

**I was told you’re playing a piano concert in three days in the city** , Luke continued. **Ben said he’s going to see you.**

**He is** , Hux signed.

Ben had told him yesterday that he and Leia had been out to the mall to buy him a suit and a couple of ties for the occasion. Upon request, he had put both on and sent Hux a picture. He looked good enough to eat with a double Windsor and in a well-tailored blue jacket. The jeans were incongruous, but Ben told him he had the trousers to match.

**That’s good** , Luke signed. **He’ll be glad to be there. And here.** He looked over Hux’s shoulder at the door, and Hux turned, too. He was surprised to see Ben standing there in a big red sweater, face pink from the cold.

He came to Hux and planted a chilly kiss on his cheek. **Surprise** , he signed. **Luke invited me to the party to say congratulations.**

**Thank you** , Hux signed, first to Ben and then to Luke.

Luke nodded and left them to visit with the other students. Arianne, though, spotted Ben and made her way over to them.

**Hello** , she signed. **You’re Hux’s boyfriend.**

**Yes** , Ben replied. **You must be Arianne. Hux has told me about you.**

It took her a moment to process the signs, and Ben shot a look at Hux to see if he should clarify for her. It seemed to dawn on her, though, and she smiled.

**That’s nice** , she signed. **It’s nice to meet you.**

**Nice to meet you, too** , Ben signed. At her slightly helpless look, he said aloud, “You’re taking the next level class, right?”

She didn’t seem overly shocked to hear him speak. “Yes, thanks to Hux. He really helped me. He’s really good at ASL.”

“Yes, he is,” said Ben, resting his hand at the small of Hux’s back. “You’ll get there, too.”

“I hope so,” she said. Signing **Goodbye** , she went to top off her sparkling grape juice.

**Do you want some snacks?** Hux asked Ben.

Ben picked up the half-eaten cookie from Hux’s discarded plate and bit into it. **This is good** , he signed.

Hux shook his head at his antics. **You’re ridiculous.**

They made the rounds of the classroom, Hux introducing Ben to his fellow students and them all saying they had heard about him.

**You talk about me a lot** , Ben signed when they had a moment to themselves again.

**Should I not?** Hux asked. **I like talking about you. You’re important to me.**

Ben gave him a tender touch to the cheek. **You, too.**

When the party was over, they both helped clean up. Hux took the empty cupcake pan back out to where Maratelle was waiting in the Lexus.

**I’ll see you in school tomorrow** , Hux signed before he left.

**And then on Sunday for the recital** , Ben signed back.

**Yes** , Hux agreed. **On Sunday. Goodnight.** He leaned in for a kiss, and then went to the car.

 

****

 

Snow was dusting the platform at the train station on Sunday as Hux, his parents, and Ben stood waiting to board the train. Hux carried a garment bag over his shoulder; it held his tuxedo, which he would put on when he got to the concert hall in the city. It was a small venue Rae had booked for her students, just large enough to hold their parents, really. They had had a dress rehearsal there on Saturday and Hux had gotten a rousing round of applause after he finished the French Suite No. 5, but he was, after all, the most advanced student Rae had.

“Here we go, then,” Maratelle said as the train stopped at the platform and the doors slid open.

The four of them stepped up into the car and found seats for themselves. Hux and Ben chose two across from each other by the foggy windows. They both had their phones out as soon as the train was pulling away.

_Are you nervous?_ Ben asked.

_No_ , Hux replied. _I’ve got the piece down pat. And I like performing._

Ben winked. _You like showing off._

_If you have to put it that way,_ Hux wrote, as if grumbled. _But I don’t get stage fright, if that’s what you’re asking. I’ve been doing this my whole life._ He gave Ben a fond look. _But this is the first time my biggest fan has been in the audience._

_You’re damn right,_ Ben typed. _Though I guess your parents count, too._ He glanced over at them.

They were both turned out nicely, Matatelle in a pink velvet gown and Brendol in his finest suit. He wore his overcoat, and she had on the fur coat she had inherited from her grandmother. Her hair was done up in a elegant French twist. Ben, too, looked nice; he was in his suit and tie with a pair of shiny black Oxfords (also a new purchase).

_They count, too,_ Hux replied. _But tonight I’m playing for you._

He meant it. He would do his best for the sake of his pride, but he would truly give everything because Ben was there; he moved him, inspired him.

_I wish you could lie on the piano while I played,_ he continued. _I like to look up and see you watching me and know you’re a part of the music._

_I don’t think Rae would like that much,_ Ben wrote. _But I wish I could, too. Maybe someday I could, but when you’re all fancied up for your concerts, it’s better that I just get to feel you when you’re practicing._

_You can do that whenever you want to,_ Hux typed. He paused for a moment, considering, but then returned to his phone. _I’d like to play for your family sometime. Maratelle loves giving parties, so I’m sure she’d be happy to host them. I could put together a few pieces and they could listen and you could feel._

Ben’s smile stretched wide. _I think they’d like that. Maybe we could do a New Year’s thing? My parents never go anywhere for New Year’s Eve. We just end up watching old movies and drinking cheap champagne at midnight. One year I drank way too much and stumbled around for a while before falling asleep in Mom’s lap._

Hux could see it in his mind’s eye. _I bet you were very sweet as a drunk. I never had much at Arkanis, but I’ve had more than my share of sherry before. That ended badly, I’m afraid._

_Were you sick?_ Ben asked.

_All over my friend’s shoes,_ Hux replied. As Ben cringed, he continued, _I know. I never lived that down. I’m rather glad I got to leave that incident behind in England. I certainly don’t plan to recreate it here._

_Best not to,_ Ben wrote. _Maybe just a kiss at midnight, huh?_

_I’ll hold you to that,_ Hux typed.

_I’m a man of my word,_ said Ben.

When the train arrived at Grand Central, they disembarked and made right away for the subway. They rode in the crowded car uptown until they arrived at their station. The venue was only two blocks away. Brendol and Maratelle—her arm in his—led the way as Ben and Hux—holding hands—trotted along behind them.

The small concert hall was on the ground floor of an office building, and it was dimly lit by sconces on the walls. A few other parents were milling around the lobby sipping sparkling water or plastic cups of white wine. Hux would have to leave Brendol, Maratelle, and Ben here and go backstage to get dressed.

“Isn’t this nice?” Maratelle said. “Shall we get a refreshment? Armitage, can you have something before you go?”

“I shouldn’t,” he said. “I have to get ready.”

He turned to Ben, who was obviously apprehensive. They had talked about how it could be awkward for him to stand around with just Hux’s parents for company, but he had told Hux he would be all right. Hux regretted that it was too late to procure a ticket for Han, who could have joined them.

**Are you okay?** he signed to Ben.

**I’ll survive** , Ben replied. **You go get changed. We’re in the first row, right?**

Hux nodded. He had made sure Ben was seated somewhere where he could see the performers as much as possible.

**I’ll look for you before I start** , Hux signed. He took hold of Ben’s tie and tugged him in for a quick kiss. He made sure to smooth down the tie again when he drew back.

**I’ll be there** , Ben signed.

Hux signed goodbye, waved to his parents, and made for the backstage door. Small students in formal dresses and tuxedos were standing around when he arrived. Rae was holding court with some, in a stunning cream-colored gown herself. Hux met her eyes so she could see that he was present, but didn’t stop to speak to her. He went straight to the dressing room.

As he changed his clothes, he visualized the black and white keys he would have to strike for the allemande. There was a tricky section of the courante he ran over in his mind, but in the end he had it down well enough that he knew he wouldn’t stumble. He wasn’t nervous; he was excited to show off, just as Ben had said.

He tied his bowtie on before sliding his arms into the jacket and buttoning it up. In the mirror he tried to see what Ben saw in him: more than just a skinny ginger with still-knobby knees and too-skinny wrists. He looked good in the tuxedo, though—more adult, which he appreciated. He would be seventeen in just a few months, but he already felt different. Since Ben, the world had shifted to center around him—him and Hux’s music. And maybe Ben couldn’t hear it, but he knew the notes as unique vibrations and he was still present for each one Hux struck. Hux felt more for him than he could put into words, so he formed the sign again, watching his reflection.

The younger students were the first to perform, starting with a very gifted young girl of seven, who was already playing Mozart. She played beautifully and Hux was glad to applaud for her when she was finished. Next came a boy, and then two girls, who played a duet. They were lovely. Four more students played before it finally came time for Hux’s piece. With as much dignity as he could muster, he walked across the stage when his name was announced. In the first row, on the far side, he saw Ben and his parents. Ben signed a quick **Good luck** as Hux unbuttoned his jacket and sat down at the piano.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Rae said, “Armitage Hux playing Johann Sebastian Bach’s French Suite No. 5 in G Major.”

The first notes sounded out through the little hall, quickly filling it and bouncing around the walls. Hux let himself fall into the music, closing his eyes to play through the allemande. He envisioned Ben lying across the piano’s lid, his brown eyes open and intent as he held Hux’s gaze. He was here; he was seeing this. Hux poured his joy into the piece. _It’s for you_ , he thought. _All for you._

He got through the following six movements flawlessly, and by the time he was finished, his heart was pounding and face flushed. When he picked his hands up from the keyboard, he allowed himself a smile.

The applause came on in a wave, washing up from the audience to the stage. Hux stood and took the requisite bow. Rae was the first to stand, followed by everyone else. Maratelle was dabbing at her eyes while Brendol clapped, but Hux’s chest filled when he saw that Ben wasn’t applauding like the rest, but instead signing it. He couldn’t look away from him, and without a doubt in his mind, he raised his right hand and signed: **I love you.**

Ben’s eyes went wide, his hands frozen mid-sign, and Hux prayed he hadn’t done wrong. But then Ben’s smile lit up the room, and he signed back: **I love you.**

Hux had to leave the stage after that, but he didn’t linger behind it. There was a reception in the lobby after the recital and he all but ran straight there. Ben was standing near the door when he burst through it, and he opened his arms for Hux to go into them. They embraced tightly, Hux clutching at Ben’s back.

When they could bear to separate, Ben signed: **You were beautiful. I’m proud of you.**

Hux replied, **Thank you for being here.**

**And you love me** , Ben signed.

**Yes** , Hux signed. **I love you.**

For the sake of propriety, they only exchanged a brief kiss, but there was the promise of more in the looks they shared.

“Armitage, you were wonderful!” Maratelle said, coming over with a bouquet of yellow roses.

Hux took them and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”

Brendol took Hux by the shoulder and squeezed. “Well done. Very well done indeed.”

“Thank you, Da.”

“Hux,” said Rae Sloane from behind him, “I think you have someone to introduce me to.”

He came around to face her, tapping Ben on the shoulder to get his attention. He faced Ben first, signing at he spoke. “Ben Solo, this is Rae Sloane, my teacher.”

Ben held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said aloud.

“I’ve heard a great deal about you,” said Rae. “You’ve been Hux’s muse these past few months. He’s done very well since you came along.”

“I know,” Ben said.

Rae laughed airily. “I’m sure you do. Enjoy the reception. Hux, beautifully played.”

Hux warmed under the praise, and Maratelle beamed excitedly at him.

“We couldn’t be prouder of you, dear,” she said. “Would you like something to drink? I’ll get you something.” She didn’t wait to find out what he wanted before heading toward the bar.

Brendol turned to Rae to speak with her, leaving Ben and Hux alone.

**What now?** Ben asked.

**We talk and drink and I listen to people say how good I was** , Hux replied. **But I don’t have to. We can just go.**

Ben shook his head no. **Stay. Bask. I have to get used to it if I’m going to be doing this all the time when you’re a professional.**

Hux tried to contain his happiness at that, and failed. **I want to be with you whatever comes** , he signed.

**I’m with you forever** , Ben signed back. **I mean that. I’m not going anywhere.**

Hux kissed him, and then signed his love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Illustrations:  
> [Ben and Hux embracing](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/174947935220/poocherd-kylux-fic-allemade) by [poocherd](http://poocherd.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Listen to [the Allemande playlist](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/post/174571019190/lizfawks-inspired-by-koujaaku-s-deafben-au) by [fitzhuu](http://fitzhuu.tumblr.com/)
> 
> We've collected a masterpost of art and other content related this AU [here](http://koujaaku.tumblr.com/post/174993332011/allemandedeafben-au-masterpost).
> 
> Find us on Tumblr here: [koujaaku](http://koujaaku.tumblr.com) and [gefionne](http://gefionne.tumblr.com/)


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